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v 

CROWN  THEOLOGICAL  LIBRARY 


VOL.  XXIV. 
ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


ANGLICAN 
LIBERALISM 


BY 

TWELVE  CHURCHMEN 


NEW  YORK:  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
LONDON:   WILLIAMS    &  NORGATE 
1908 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/anglicanliberaliOOunse 


THE  MOTTO 

oioafjiev  oe  otl  o  vlo<s  tov  oeou  17/cei,  kcu  oeoojKev 
y)jxlv  Sidvouav,  Iva  yLvcoo-KO/xev  tov  dXtjOtvov,  /ecu 
iafiev  iv  toj  ak-qdwo),  iv  Taj  via*  avTov  'Ir)o~ov 
\piO~TO).  OUT05  io~TLV  6  d\.7)6ivo<;  0€O5,  /ecu  ^(or) 
aia>vLO<s.    TtKvia,  (pvkd^are  eavrd  dwb  twv  el$co\a)v. 

From  the  First  Epistle  of  St  John  (5.  SO,  21). 


A  PRAYER  FOR  THE  WRITERS  AND  THE  READERS 

LORD  OF  KNOWLEDGE,  AND  DISPENSER  OF  WISDOM, 
WHO  DISCOVEREST  DEEP  THINGS  OUT  OF  DARKNESS, 
O  LOVER  OF  MEN,  BESTOW  ON  US  A  MIND  WITHOUT 
DISTRACTION,  AND  A  PURIFIED  SPIRIT,  THAT  WE 
MAY  KNOW  HOW  PROFITABLE  ARE  THY  HOLY  TEACH- 
INGS,  THROUGH   JESUS   CHRIST   OUR   LORD.  AMEN. 

Adapted  from  the  Coptic  Liturgy  of  St  Mark. 


CONTENTS 


If  PAGE 

I.  Religious  Liberalism.  Rev.  Hubert  Handley,M.A., 

Vicar  of  St  Thomas's,  Camden  Town,  N.W.  1 

II.  Theological  Liberalism.  F.  C.  Burkitt,  M.A., 
D.D.,  Norrisian  Professor  of  Divinity,  Cam- 
bridge .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .18 

III.  Biblical  Liberalism.    Rev.    J.    R.  Wilkinson, 

M.A.,  Rector  of  Winford,  Bristol  .        .  .35 

IV.  Devotional   Liberalism.      Rev.    C.    R.  Shaw 

Stewart,  M.A.,  Rector  of  Cowden,  Kent  .       .  64 

V.  Clerical  Liberalism.  Rev.  Hastings  Rashdall, 
D.Litt.,  D.C.L.,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  New 
College,  Oxford    .       .       .       .       .  .77 

VI.  Lay  Liberalism.    Percy  Gardner,  Litt.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  Classical  Archwology,  Oxford       .  135 

VII.  Political  Liberalism.      Sir  C.  Thomas  Dyke 

Acland,  Bart.       .        .        .        .        .  .167 

VIII.  Social  Liberalism.    Rev.  A.  J.  Carlyle,  M.A., 

Chaplain  and  Lecturer  of  University  College, 

Oxford;  Rector  of  St  Martin  and  All  Saints, 

Oxford  191 

7 


8  Contents 

PAGE 

IX.  Past  Liberalism.     Rev.  H.  G.   Woods,  D.D., 

Master  of  the  Temple    .        .        .        .  .210 

X.  Nonconformist     Liberalism.        Rev.  Alfred 
*  Caldecott,  D.Lit.,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  in  King's  College.  London ;  formerly 
Fellow  of  St  John's  College,  Cambridge  .  .241 

XI.  German  Evangelic  Liberalism.     Rev.  William 

D.  Morrison,  LL.D.,  Rector  of  St  Marylebone  .  284 

XII.  Roman    Catholic    Liberalism.      Rev.    A.  L. 

Lilley,  M.A.,  Vicar  of  St  Marys,  Paddington,  W.  2.98 


NOTE. 

The  Title  of  this  book  indicates  among  the  Writers 
a  general  community  of  aim ;  but  each  Contributor 
is  responsible  only  for  his  own  Essay. 


Anglican  Liberalism 

RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  HUBERT  HANDLEY 
I.  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH   IS  HERE 

One  thing  about  the  Church  of  England  is 

this  —  it  is  here.     It  is  a  fact.     It  exists. 

Notice  it  at  this  moment. 

All  around  us  are  what  we  call  churches. 

Indeed,  our  native  land  is,  like  a  huge  irregular 

chess-board,  carved  into  parcels  of  ground 

named  parishes.    And  in  every  parish  rises  a 

singular  edifice,  what  men  have  even  termed 

the  "  House  of  God."    It  may  be  stately  and 

of  stone,  its  walls  decorated  by  nature  and 

time  with  moss  and  lichen,  a  visible  and  holy 

keepsake  from  the  faith  of  the  Middle  Age 

1 


2 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


or  the  Saxon  ;  or  it  may  be  red,  brick,  modern, 
with  one  vile  bell,  springing  up  amid  effort 
and  debt  in  the  mission  district  and  the 
slum.  But  here  they  are,  all  around  us — the 
churches. 

And  in  every  church  is  the  apparatus, 
hereditaryin  Christendom  and  effective  through 
centuries,  of  approach  to  the  Most  High  and 
of  visitation  by  God  to  the  lonely  and  calling 
souls  of  men.  There  is  the  altar — in  every 
church  there  is  the  altar — where  disciples  with 
bowed  head  recollect  a  Death  two  thousand 
years  ago,  a  Death  which  has  wrenched  human 
history  out  of  the  rut  of  sin,  and  has  been,  in 
awful  and  secular  proportions,  the  Gate  of  Life. 
There  is  the  lectern,  and  on  it  is  a  Book  from 
which  are  read  thoughts  ultimate,  peremptory, 
delightful,  which  make  men,  as  the  Book  says, 
"  wise  unto  salvation."  There  is  the  pulpit. 
whence  a  messenger  with  living  voice  proclaims 
to  living  listeners  the  vital  applications  of  the 
Book.  There  is  the  prayer-desk,  whence  there 
stammer  and  aspire  the  inner  longings  of  men's 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM  3 

lives,  their  grief,  remorse,  ideals,  and  gratitude. 
There  is  the  font,  where  little  children,  enter- 
ing the  perishable  mundane,  are  received 
among  the  pilgrims  who,  at  least,  look  towards 
the  City  which  hath  the  foundations.  There 
are  tower  and  spire,  arch  and  aisle,  figures  of 
the  saints  of  old,  symbols,  emblems,  memorials 
— all  transparencies  through  which  breaks  the 
Heavenly  Light,  incentives  through  which 
breaks  the  Heavenly  Appeal. 

And  outside  the  church,  in  the  complex 
activities  of  club  and  institute,  of  lecture  and 
amusement,  of  vigilance  and  tenderness  for 
sick  and  dying,  for  tempted  souls  or  hungry 
families — through  all  these  ministrations  the 
Spirit  of  the  Living  God  breathes. 

Once  more,  the  men  and  women  in  the 
street ;  the  crowds  ;  these  English  folk — with 
their  honest  faces,  downrightness,  reticence, 
reserve  of  dignity — push  into  the  secrets  of 
their  hearts ;  and,  directly  or  indirectly,  you 
will  often  find  there  witness,  beautiful  and 
unavowed,  to  the  fact  of  the  English  Church. 


4 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


My  brother !  you  keen,  hard,  prosperous, 
ambitious  man  of  business :  whence  come 
those  fitful  movements  of  the  conscience  ? 
those  best  dissatisfactions  ?  those  instigations 
to  the  higher  amid  the  hurry  of  that  packed, 
self-centred  life  of  yours  ?  those  snatches  of 
the  unearthly  which  will  not  let  you  be  ? 
Whence  come  they  ?  The  Eternal  breathed 
them  through  the  Church's  prayer  and  hymn 
and  Gospel  story  into  the  inmost  and  early 
sanctuary  of  your  childhood's  consciousness. 
My  brother !  strong  artisan,  whose  little  son 
has  died  :  where  did  you  learn  in  this  dark 
hour  to  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done  ? "  You  learnt 
it  first,  as  we  say,  "at  Sunday  School";  and 
your  peasant  fathers  taught  it  you,  having 
learnt  through  the  generations  the  grand 
acquiescence  in  God's  appointments  which  the 
Church  teaches  her  children.  My  brother ! 
great  man,  man  of  eminence,  prime  minister ; 
high  on  the  pinnacle  of  power ;  surveying, 
directing  the  destinies  of  this  people:  where 
did  you  learn  to  set  before  them  honourable 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM  5 

purposes,  virile,  pure  pursuits,  and  all  the 
altitudes  of  piety  ?  If  we  may  take  your  own 
word  in  answer  to  this  question,  your  mother, 
the  English  Church,  who  spiritually  bore  you, 
pointed  your  first  steps,  and  guided  you  con- 
tinually, up  that  your  mounting  and  beneficent 
career. 

So  the  first  note  of  the  English  Church 
is  this  —  it  exists.  Existence  is  a  homely 
but  not  inconsiderable  advantage.  Positivist 
Churches,  Theistic  Churches,  Socialist  Churches 
and  others  suggest  fecund  conceptions ;  they 
may  have  potentiality  and  promise ;  what  they 
have  not  on  any  appreciable  scale  is  existence. 
Not  to  these  churches,  marked  with  that 
telling  defect,  do  the  mass  of  English  people, 
seeking  religious  nutriment,  turn.  The  mass 
of  English  people,  seeking  religious  nutriment, 
turn  to  institutions  which  have  the  merit  of 
being  here.  The  various  Christian  Com- 
munions have  this  merit.  The  Roman  and 
the  Free  Churches,  which  we  honour,  but 
which  are  not  now  our  concern,  have  it.  The 


6 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


English  Church,  which  is  now  our  concern, 
has  it.    The  English  Church  is  here. 

II.  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  MUST  BE  REFORMED 

But,  good  reader,  you  say :  This  English 
Church  is  marred  by  grave  faults,  and  is  in- 
efficient with  lamentable  shortcoming.  And 
you  begin  the  easy  and  serious  indictment. 
(1)  This  English  Church,  you  say,  does  not 
any  longer  minister  to  the  souls  of  the  people ; 
has,  in  effect,  no  message  for  the  strenuous 
lives  of  the  toiling  millions.  The  lofty  but 
archaic  eloquence  of  her  worship,  her  primness, 
her  chill  decorum,  her  aesthetic  frivolities, 
her  irrelevant  sermons  (irrelevant  to  the 
surging,  baffled  thoughts,  and  the  throbbing 
facts  of  our  age),  her  occasional  priestly  airs 
and  affectations,  thin,  foolish,  and  impossible 
— all  this  misses  the  mark,  which  is  the  souls  of 
these  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen  around. 
The  English  Church  does  not  any  longer 
minister  to  the  souls  of  the  people.  (2)  Despite 
Maurice,  Kingsley,  and  the  Christian  Social 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM 


7 


Union,  you  affirm  that  the  English  Church  has 
not  generally  furthered  recent  social  progress, 
and  now  is  inclined  to  sit  on  one  side  and  to 
watch,  rather  than  to  accelerate  and  impel, 
the  bounding  hopes  of  social  betterment.  (3) 
The  English  Church,  you  say,  is  Pharisaical, 
intractable,  and  tart  in  her  dealings  with  other 
Christian  bodies.  And  you  recall  Mr  Charles 
Booth  censuring  the  English  Church  herein, 
and  declaring  that  in  London  the  effective 
leadership  of  Christian  Communions  lies 
neglected  at  her  feet.  (4)  You  complain, 
perhaps,  of  offensive  irregularity  in  clerical 
incomes  ;  on  the  one  hand,  of  faithful  ministers 
of  Christ  in  village  cures,  whose  pittance  does 
not  always  bring  them  quite  enough  to  eat; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  of  faithful  ministers 
of  Christ,  episcopal  or  otherwise,  whose  mun- 
dane recognitions  appear  to  be  excessive.  (5) 
Lastly,  and  above  all,  not  to  protract  the  list, 
you  say  that  the  English  Church  has  not  made 
terms  with  modern  knowledge.  The  English 
Church,  in  the  doctrinal  regions  of  her  Book 


8 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


of  Common  Prayer  and  in  her  Articles  of 
Religion,  did,  you  grant,  spell  out  the  Eternal 
verities  with  inspiration,  with  fidelity,  and 
with  power.  But,  you  insist,  the  Church  spelt 
out  those  verities  in  the  language  of  a  bygone 
age ;  the  verities  endure,  the  language  is 
transitory ;  the  verities  live,  the  language 
decays  ;  the  verities  we  must  keep  immutably, 
"  they  are  the  secret  of  our  being,  and  the 
meaning  of  our  destiny " ;  the  language  we 
must  change  at  once,  it  is  the  ragged  and 
outworn  garment  of  our  thought.  The  diffi- 
culty, you  add,  is  that  in  the  formularies 
of  the  English  Church  the  verities  and  the 
language  are  mixed ;  and,  you  conclude,  the 
master  religious  task  of  that  Church,  if  live 
it  will,  is  the  mighty  dissociation,  bold  and 
delicate,  conservative,  radical,  and  reverent — 
the  dissociation  of  these  abiding  truths  from 
that  ephemeral  utterance. 1 

1  From  the  many  such  warnings  resounding  in  our  ears 
here  is  one  spoken  by  a  chief  watchman  on  a  high  tower 
of  observation,  looking  back  down  the  ages  and  telling  us, 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM 


0 


Good  reader,  I  wish  you  knew  with  what 
fervour  and  penitence  many  of  us  Anglican 
clergy  concede  the  general  justice  of  your 
reproach.  The  faults  of  our  beloved  Church, 
and  her  amazing  lack,  are  ever  in  our  minds ; 
they  haunt  us ;  in  the  busy  morning,  in  the 
quiet  evening,  in  the  still  night,  in  early  man- 
hood, in  middle  age,  we  wonder  and  ponder 
and  pray  about  them.  When  to  this  nation 
will  this  English  Church  arise,  shine ;  for  her 

if  we  are  willing  to  hear,  what  he  sees.  "  It  needs  but  a 
glance  through  history  at  the  wrecks  of  old  religions  to 
see  how  they  failed  from  within.  The  priests  of  Egypt, 
who  once  represented  the  most  advanced  knowledge  of 
their  time,  came  to  fancy  that  mankind  had  no  more  to 
learn,  and  upheld  their  tradition  against  all  newer  wisdom, 
till  the  world  passed  them  by  and  left  them  grovelling  in 
superstition.  The  priests  of  Greece  ministered  in  splendid 
temples  and  had  their  fill  of  wealth  and  honours,  but  men 
who  sought  the  secret  of  a  good  life  found  that  this  was  not 
the  business  of  the  sanctuary,  and  turned  away  to  the 
philosophers.  Unless  a  religion  can  hold  its  place  in  the 
front  of  science  and  of  morals,  it  may  only  gradually,  in 
the  course  of  ages,  lose  its  place  in  the  nation,  but  all  the 
power  of  statecraft  and  all  the  wealth  of  the  temples  will 
not  save  it  from  eventually  yielding  to  a  belief  that  takes 
in  higher  knowledge  and  teaches  better  life." 

E.  B.  Tylor  {Anthropology,  pp.  371,  372). 


10  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

light  is  come  ?  When,  once  more,  will  she  be 
to  this  people  something  "  intimate,  grand,  and 
vital  ? "  When  will  she  lose  that  note  in  her 
which  is  insufferably  terrene  ?  When  will  she 
again  astound  us  with  her  moral  distinction  ? 
When  will  her  theological  positions  be  re-stated 
so  as  to  the  best  thought  of  our  day  not  to 
seem  anti-reasonable  ?  W e  have  anticipated, 
in  our  own  stinging  experience,  the  gist  of 
your  imputations. 

And  yet  our  confidence  in  this  Church  of 
our  fathers  is  strangely  quiet  and  deep  ;  it  lies 
among  the  bases  of  our  being.  We  believe 
that  the  Realities  which  were  once  committed 
to  the  Church  of  England  gradually  to  dis- 
close ;  which  from  her  have  broken  out 
through  English  history  in  the  long,  radiant 
line  of  English  Christian  lives ;  which  have 
shone  through  her  age-long  ministrations, 
lightening  onward  and  upward  the  national 
designs ;  which  have  sustained  the  national 
character  in  the  shock  and  flux  of  national 
vicissitude  ;  which  the  Christian  men  of  old  in 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM 


II 


our  land  tried,  for  their  own  generations,  again 
and  again  to  spell  out  and  adumbrate  and  lisp 
the  name  of  in  prayer  and  confession,  in  homily 
and  article — we  believe  that  these  Realities 
these  Ultimates,  are  still  behind  our  Church  ; 
that  they  need  only  amended  ecclesiastical 
expression  to  come  forth  in  their  old  bene 
dictive  power,  and  to  lift  our  single  selves  and 
the  national  habit  into  the  heavens.  For 
unseen  and  for  seen,  for  faith  and  practice, 
we  believe  that  the  English  Church  may  still 
be  adequate.  Mr  Lecky  somewhere  dwells 
on  the  injury  to  France  from  the  break,  at  her 
Revolution,  of  her  institutional  continuity. 
The  new  religions  which  earnest  men  project 
among  us  break  the  spiritual  continuity  ;  they 
snap  the  thread  of  our  priceless  heritage — the 
English  Christian  consciousness ;  they  do  not 
telescope  into  the  next  stage,  they  leave  a  gap  ; 
they  do  not  develop,  they  jump.  Through 
the  English  Church  our  religion  can  grow ; 
here  is  the  line  of  life ;  here  is  organic  process  ; 
here  is  what  the  past  unfolded ;   here  lies 


12 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


evolutionary  expectation.  "  In  what  we  im- 
prove, we  are  never  wholly  new ;  in  what  we 
retain,  we  are  never  wholly  obsolete"  (Burke). 
We  believe  that  the  English  Church  may  still 
suffice.  Only  the  English  Church  must  be 
reformed. 

III.  THE  REFORMERS  MUST  BE  RELIGIOUS 

Ut  incurvem  ad  voluntatem  Tuam  tortuo- 
sitatem  meam,  says  the  Imitation.  Here  is 
the  key  of  achievement.  Church  reform  is  a 
religious  task.  Church  reformers  need,  in- 
deed, at  their  disposal,  as  instruments  in  their 
venture,  many  and  varied  talents — learning, 
ability,  scholarship,  critical  faculty,  historical, 
scientific,  philosophic  competence,  acquaintance 
and  sympathy  with  other  religions,  tact,  practice 
in  affairs,  conciliatory  manners,  etc.  But  these 
things  are  tools ;  and  not  the  tools,  but  the 
men  behind  the  tools,  radically  matter.  The 
men  behind  those  tools,  for  that  work,  must 
be  religious  ;  must  be  men  who  have  in  them 
eternal  life ;  men  who  in  the  inmost  recesses 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM 


13 


of  their  being  are  in  hidden,  filial  accord  with 
God  ;  men  who  are  ever  bending  to  the  Divine 
Will  herein  their  own  tortuosity.  The  enter- 
prise is  not  mainly  structural ;  it  is  mainly 
spiritual. 

For  instance,  we  desire  that  the  Church 
should  play  a  nobler,  leading  part  in  social 
improvement.  Ah  !  churchmen,  learn  purity 
and  passion  of  motive  here  from  those  humble 
men  before  your  eyes,  the  labour  reformers. 
I  do  not  say,  learn  from  them  policy  ;  for  the 
labour  policy  may  need  great  hammer  strokes 
of  correction  to  beat  it  into  shape.  But  I  say, 
learn  from  the  labour  party,  in  social  reform, 
grandeur  of  moral  purpose.  I  was  at  the 
large  meeting  in  the  Queen's  Hall,  Langham 
Place,  in  February  1906,  soon  after  the  General 
Election,  when  Mr  Keir  Hardie  presided  over 
"  London's  Welcome  to  the  Labour  Members." 
I  shall  never  forget  the  spirit  of  that  assembly ; 
the  generosity  of  the  common  emotion ;  the 
mental  melting  of  all  distinctions  of  rank  and 
education  in  the  fires  of  human  brotherhood, 


14  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

in  the  burning  intent  to  help  less  happy  lives 
and  to  heal  the  social  woes  of  England.  Never, 
I  must  sorrowfully  confess,  did  I  find  such  a 
spirit  at  a  social  reform  meeting  of  church- 
men. We  churchmen  must  do  as  those 
labour  men  had  done,  we  must  herein  get 
the  mind  of  Christ ;  we  must  cast  out,  and 
hurl  over  the  precipice,  the  demons  in  our 
Church  of  worldliness,  cupidity,  clerical  am- 
bition, episcopal  parade,  obsequious  class 
estimates,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride 
of  life.  For  social  reform  is  not  some  mere 
matter  of  bricks  re-arranged  into  better  poor 
men's  houses,  not  some  mere  debate  on 
municipal  ownership  of  gas  undertakings  ;  it 
has  to  do  with  human  brotherhood ;  it  is  a 
factor  in  "  human  amplitude " ;  it  is  part  of 
eternal  life. 

Again,  we  desire  to  live  on  better  terms 
with  other  Christian  Communions,  and  to 
move  with  them  toward  some  converging 
point  of  fellowship.  First,  then,  our  Church 
must  repent  her  own  guilty  share  in  the 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM  15 


estrangement ;  must  wash  away  that  taint  of 
condescension  ;  must  drop  those  teasing  nick- 
names ;  must  forget  her  own  social  prestige. 
Do  not  so  much  modify  the  constitution  as 
mend  the  heart.  Let  the  avenues  of  approach 
to  concord  on  our  side  be  humble  and  re- 
ligious ;  let  our  Church  bend  to  the  Divine 
Will  herein  her  own  tortuosity. 

Again,  we  dream  our  dream — our  Church 
repenting  her  sins  and  ministering  indeed  to 
the  English  people !  Well,  we  liberal  clergy 
who  believe  that  we  have  a  live,  human, 
almighty  message  from  our  Saviour  to  the 
hearts  of  the  living  men  of  the  twentieth 
century — we  must,  for  our  message's  sake, 
learn  from  our  clerical  brethren,  High  and  Low, 
to  heal  our  own  defect ;  we  must  learn  from 
the  best  High  Church  clergy  reverence  in 
worship,  the  power  of  "  retreat,"  parochial  con- 
scientiousness, a  determined  care  for  the  sick, 
stricken,  dying,  a  pastoral  efficiency  which  rises 
here  and  there  in  the  lanes  of  the  cities  to 
pastoral  heroism ;   we  must  learn  from  the 


16 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


best  Evangelical  clergy  humility,  converting 
purpose,  the  due  place  of  Feeling  in  spiritual 
completeness.  "  This  little  Book,"  says  the 
Preface,  long  attributed  to  Luther  but  since 
found  to  date  from  an  earlier  age,  of  the 
Theologia  Germanica,  "teacheth  whereby 
we  may  discern  the  true  and  upright  friends 
of  God  from  those  unrighteous  and  false  free- 
thinkers, who  are  most  hurtful  to  the  Holy 
Church." 

Once  more,  in  the  realm  of  doctrinal  state- 
ment we  desire  reconstructions.  The  re- 
constructions must  not,  however,  be  little, 
separate,  clever,  rational  buildings  on  their  own 
account ;  they  must  be  part  of  the  inherited 
and  enlarged  spiritual  Temple.  The  new 
knowledge  must  serve  the  old  religion ; 
must  be  absorbed  and  assimilated  in  the  old 
religion.  The  mass  of  churchmen  will  accept 
theological  re-statement  when  they  find  that 
it  is  religious ;  when  they  find  that  the 
old  blest  pieties  and  sanctities,  the  old  con- 
summate inducements  of  the  Christian  char- 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERALISM  17 


acter,  are  not  dropped  out,  but  are  eminently 
preserved. 

Thus  does  the  Church  reformer  see  before 
him  a  task  superb ;  and  thus  needs  he  for  it, 
first  of  all,  high  interior  quality — ut  incurvem 
ad  voluntatem  Tuam  tortuositatem  meam. 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM 

BY 

Professor  F.  C.  BURKITT 

Liberalism  is  a  word  that  is  losing  its  charm 
as  a  popular  label,  and  many  people  may  think 
its  association  with  Theology  altogether  in- 
congruous. "  Theological  Radicalism  "  may 
seem  to  promise  sincerity,  "  Theological  Con- 
servatism "  suggests  safety  and  reverence  for 
the  past.  "  Liberalism  "  nowadays  conveys  to 
some  minds  a  notion  of  flatness  and  vagueness, 
a  notion  of  halting  in  a  half-way  house.  What 
use  or  justification,  we  may  ask,  is  there  for 
Liberal  Theology  in  the  Church  of  England 
at  the  present  time  ? 

There  are  really  two  objections  which  have 
to  be  faced  by  the  Liberal  Theologian,  objec- 
tions which  come  from  opposite  sides  and  only 

18 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  19 

unite  in  their  common  denial  of  his  right  to 
exist.  On  the  one  hand,  the  thorough-going 
Conservatives,  from  Pope  Pius  X.  downwards, 
tell  us  that  the  true  doctrine,  the  true  theology, 
is  altogether  unchanging.  It  has  been,  they 
say,  already  revealed  and  in  essentials  long  ago 
codified,  so  that  any  attempts  to  modify 
theology  in  the  directions  which  seem  to  be 
indicated  by  modern  views  of  the  universe  can 
only  be  unfaithful  tamperings  with  the  sacred 
deposit  of  revealed  Truth.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  who  are  imbued  with  the  Modern  Spirit 
— I  have  no  other  name  for  it  sufficiently 
general — tell  us  that  such  tamperings  are  not 
only  unfaithful  but  useless.  Christianity,  they 
tell  us  in  effect,  is  merely  one  of  the  natural 
products  of  former  and  more  ignorant  ages, 
ages  which  thought  that  the  earth  was  the 
centre  of  the  universe  and  that  the  heavens 
revolved  round  it.  The  sun  still  appears  to 
rise  and  set,  but  we  know  that  appearance  to 
be  an  illusion.  W e  have  mastered  the  real 
motions   of  the  heavenly  bodies ;  we  have 


20  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


recovered  from  rocks  and  fossils  the  general 
outline  of  the  history  of  our  planet  before  man 
had  come  into  being ;  we  have  studied  the 
surprising  and  lengthy  natural  history  of 
man,  from  the  cave-dweller  with  his  rude  flints 
to  the  present  age  of  machinery  and  from 
the  perhaps  uncivilisable  Australasian  to  the 
nervous  degenerate  of  our  own  race.  Every- 
where the  things  we  can  see  and  measure  are 
governed  by  laws,  laws  which  have  been 
always  there  and  which  we  cannot  alter,  but 
which  nevertheless  were  for  the  most  part 
unknown  to  those  among  whom  Christianity 
grew  up.  And  side  by  side  with  the  harness- 
ing of  many  of  the  forces  of  nature  for  the  use 
of  man,  social  conditions  have  arisen  profoundly 
different  from  those  in  which  and  out  of  which 
Christianity  took  shape.  The  soil  and  the  at- 
mosphere have  changed,  they  say :  it  is  use- 
less to  try  to  keep  the  old  tree  in  vigour. 

I  have  ventured  to  employ  the  metaphor  of 
a  tree,  because  after  all  one  of  the  facts  before 
us  is  that  Christianity  is  still  alive.    It  is  alive 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  21 


as  a  religion  in  general,  and  also  that  particular 
branch  of  it  which  we  call  the  Church  of 
England  is  alive.  Life  is  a  very  mysterious 
thing,  whether  in  individuals  or  in  societies, 
and  the  only  sure  test  that  an  individual  or  a 
society  can  live  in  a  particular  environment 
is  the  test  of  actual  experience.  That  the 
Church  of  England  continues  to  live  is  the 
proof,  and  the  only  proof,  of  its  right  to  live. 

But  all  life,  as  we  know  it  on  this  earth, 
carries  with  it  the  liability  to  wither  and  to 
die.  And  because  the  Church  is  alive  now, 
that  does  not  necessarily  promise  that  the 
Church  will  be  able  always  to  maintain  its 
existence  with  unimpaired  vitality  under  the 
rapidly  changing  conditions  of  modern  life. 
"  Life,"  says  a  famous  definition  of  it,  "  is  a 
power  of  adaptability  to  environment,"  and  it 
is  from  this  point  of  view  that  Liberalism  in 
theology  claims  to  be  heard.  Liberalism  at 
least  professes  a  certain  flexibility,  a  certain 
breadth  of  view,  which  tries  in  changing  times 
to  take  into  account  both  the  new  and  the 


22  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

old,  to  understand  both,  and  to  attempt  to  fit 
the  old  to  the  new. 

Our  life,  moreover,  is  fed  by  that  which  has 
had  life.  Water  and  salt  alone  will  not 
nourish  us,  and  the  use  of  religion  is  to 
nourish  the  divine  element  in  man  with  the 
Bread  of  Life.  The  problem  therefore  we 
have  to  face  is  not  so  much  how  to  keep 
Anglican  Theology  alive  in  an  unsympathetic 
world  of  thought ;  what  we  need  to  consider 
is  whether  Anglican  Theology  is  wholesome 
food  for  Englishmen  of  our  generation,  for 
the  living  Church  in  our  midst.  Is  it,  in  its 
present  condition,  fit  to  keep  the  Church  alive  ? 
Theology  is  the  Science  of  Religion,  the 
ordered  and  reasoned  expression  of  the  relations 
of  God  and  man.  Like  other  branches  of 
science  which  deal  with  what  men  have  been 
able  to  learn  about  this  great  and  wonderful 
universe,  there  are  problems  and  questions 
pertaining  to  it  which  altogether  elude  our 
comprehension.  So  far  all  are  agreed.  The 
difficulty  comes  in  when  we  come  to  particulars, 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  23 


to  the  actual  statements  about  God  and  man 
that  have  been  made  in  the  past,  in  other 
words,  to  that  part  of  theology  which  is  trans- 
mitted to  us  as  a  part  of  history. 

Perhaps  the  "  plain  man,"  or  the  "  man  in 
the  street,"  does  not  fully  recognise  to  what 
extent  the  theology  of  his  forefathers  is  being 
modified  by  modern  historical  study — I  mean 
the  scientific  study  of  the  past  in  its  widest 
sense.  But  that  he  is  conscious  of  it  is  shewn 
by  many  indications,  and  by  none  more 
surely  than  his  general  abstention  from  at- 
tendance at  any  church.  This  is  a  serious 
symptom  which  goes  much  deeper  than 
mere  dissatisfaction  with  the  arrangements 
for  Christian  worship,  whether  ritual  or  social. 
We  have  to  face  the  fact  that  thousands  of 
men  and  women  of  all  ranks  feel  that  the 
Christian  religion,  as  officially  presented  to 
them,  is  hopelessly  out  of  touch  with  their  life, 
and  rests  upon  theories  which,  where  they  can 
test  them,  seem  out  of  date  and  un verifiable. 
The  lapsed  millions  have  no  special  animus 


24 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


against  the  Christian  Church.  Most  English- 
men, indeed,  have  a  sort  of  affection  for  what 
is  old  and  respectable,  as  long  as  it  does  not 
inconvenience  them.  They  like  to  see  pictur- 
esque survivals,  like  Crosby  Hall,  standing  in 
their  midst.  But  as  soon  as  the  picturesque 
survival  is  found  to  be  in  the  way  of  something 
really  important  and  vital,  such  as  a  modern 
business  concern,  they  do  not  care  to  put 
themselves  out  to  preserve  it,  and  so  it  dis- 
appears. The  Christian  Church  to-day  is  in 
the  position  that  Crosby  Hall  occupied  a  few 
years  ago,  and  if  it  is  to  be  preserved  it  must 
convince  men  that  it  provides  what  they  can- 
not do  without. 

The  Liberal  theologian's  task  is  so  to  restate 
the  Christian  message  that  it  can  be  understood 
by  the  modern  man.  And,  further,  the  Liberal 
theologian  is  generally  himself  enough  of  a 
modern  man  to  believe  that  some  parts  of  what 
generally  passes  for  the  Christian  message  and 
the  Christian  organisation  are  really  outworn, 
and  need  to  be  dropped  to  make  room  for  new 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  25 


developments    and    new  arrangements.  It 
is  a  conceivable   view  of  Christianity  that 
our  religion  as  a  whole  is  outworn,  that  it 
cannot  be  restated,  that  if  it  be  restated 
essential  parts  must  be  dropped,  that  it  is 
destined  to  perish  notwithstanding  our  efforts. 
It  may  be,  it  certainly  will  happen  in  particular 
cases,  that  the  restatement  is  inadequate,  that 
here  and  there  we  may  try  to  cast  out  essential 
particulars  and  cling  to  non-essentials.  But 
such  things  do  not  relieve  us  from  the  duty  of 
making  the  attempt,  nor  will  individual  mis- 
takes affect  the  final  result.    The  fate  of  the 
Church  is  not  really  dependent  on  the  efforts 
of  the  churchmen  of  a  particular  generation. 
If  the  Church's  God  be  ultimately  nothing 
more  than  an  Idol,  a  wholly  subjective  dream 
with  no  reality  behind  to  give  it  substance, 
then  indeed  the  end  of  Christianity  will  sooner 
or  later  come.    But  if  the  Father  whom  Jesus 
Christ  claimed  to  know  be  more  than  a  dream, 
if  the  analogy  of  human  kinship  by  which 
Christians  attempt  to  describe  their  relation- 


26  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


ship  to  the  unseen  Power  that  rules  the  world 
be  justified  really  in  fact — and  to  have  faith  in 
God  is  just  this — then  we  may  have  confidence 
that  Christianity  will  live,  is  destined  to  live. 

But  belief  in  a  God  who  may  not  inaptly  be 
styled  our  Father  is  not  the  whole  of  Christian 
Faith.  To  be  a  Christian  is  to  believe  in  Christ, 
in  His  Mission,  in  the  kingdom  which  His 
Gospel  proclaimed.  I  have  tried  to  use  terms 
suggested  by  the  New  Testament  records  them- 
selves rather  than  those  of  the  Creeds,  but  in 
the  end  the  thing  signified  is  essentially  the 
same.  And  it  is  well  from  time  to  time  to  try 
to  express  in  our  own  words  what  we  mean  by 
our  formulas.  The  language  of  theological 
dogma  may  be  classical,  but  undeniably  it  is 
now,  like  Latin,  a  dead  language  and  requires 
translation.  Modern  folk  are  impatient  of 
what  is  called  dogma.  At  the  same  time  they 
profess  to  admire  and  reverence  the  Prophet 
of  Nazareth  whom  the  Christians  call  their 
Lord.  No  doubt  there  are  texts  in  the  Gospels 
which  have  been  unfairly  pressed  to  "  prove  " 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  27 

(as  the  phrase  goes)  "the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ."  No  doubt  many  modern  critical  in- 
vestigators have  rejected  as  unhistorical  many 
sayings  and  doings  attributed  to  Him.  But 
on  almost  any  critical  theory  enough  remains 
to  challenge  inquiry.  We  still  have  to  ask 
what  right  He  had  to  say  "  Ye  have  heard  this 
and  that  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  but  I  say 
unto  you  another  rule  " ;  and  again  we  have  to 
ask  what  right  He  had  to  say  "  Follow  Me." 
Those  who  admit  the  right  of  Jesus  thus  to 
speak  with  authority  are,  in  other  words,  con- 
fessing Him  to  be  the  incarnate  Word  of  the 
Father.  And  to  follow  Jesus  means  to  be 
ready  to  give  up  everything  else,  even  life 
itself,  if  thereby  the  kingdom  of  His  Father 
may  come. 

The  nature  which  human  beings  share  with 
other  animals  is  unable  to  follow  the  call  of 
Jesus.  It  is  insufficient  both  in  insight  and  in 
power.  But  whatever  our  ancestry  may  have 
been,  we  are  now  different  from  our  fellow- 
creatures  ;  if  there  be   any  truth  at  all  in 


28  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


religion,  it  is  that  human  personality  includes, 
in  greater  or  less  degree,  a  divine  element. 
Not  that  this  element  is  the  whole  of  human 
nature,  or  that  it  is  always  or  universally  domi- 
nant. The  contrary  case  is  what  meets  us  on 
all  sides :  the  divine  element  is  constantly 
being  thwarted  and  overpowered  by  the  lower 
nature,  and  this  is  what  theologians  call  sin. 
But  the  mere  fact  of  the  struggle  in  man  is 
evidence  of  the  reality  of  his  double  nature. 
"  It  is  Thy  presence  within  us  that  makes 
us  conscious  of  ourselves  and  Thee "  ; 1  this 
presence  animating  individual  men,  part  of 
the  divine  nature  and  yet  immanent  in  man, 
is  called  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Christian 
doctrine  does  not,  like  some  modern  systems, 
confine  the  idea  of  God  to  that  which  is 
immanent  in  man  ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand, 

1  I  prefer  to  give  this  sentence  as  I  heard  it  in  the 
prayer  of  a  Highland  minister.  He  took  it  from  Prayers 
for  Public  Worship  by  the  late  John  Service,  D.D.  (1885), 
where  it  runs  :  "  It  is  Thy  presence  in  us  which  makes  us 
conscious  of  ourselves  and  of  Thy  works"  (p.  14,  see  also 
p.  111). 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  29 

does  it  regard  the  animal  nature  as  being  in 
itself  evil.  Evil  lies  in  anarchy  within  the 
complex  personality  of  man,  and  this  occurs 
whenever  the  higher  and  lower  parts  of  his 
personality  are  not  in  harmony  with  one 
another.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  animal  part 
to  grow,  to  attain  to  maturity,  to  become 
feeble,  to  die ;  it  is  the  nature  of  the  divine 
part  ever  to  claim  more  and  more  dominion, 
and  to  be  unsatisfied  unless  more  and  more 
dominion  is  willingly  conceded.  As  a  man 
becomes  more  and  more  under  the  dominion 
of  the  divine  spirit  he  becomes  more  and  more 
holy,  more  and  more  fit  to  be  a  citizen  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

This  doctrine  of  God  is  little  more  than  a 
paraphrase  of  the  familiar  answers  which  the 
Church  of  England  teaches  her  children  in  the 
Catechism  to  be  the  essential  meaning  of  her 
creed.  There  is,  however,  one  point  which 
has  not  yet  been  touched.  Christian  philosophy 
is  not  satisfied  to  regard  Jesus  merely  as  a 
legislator  and  an  example  ;  in  fact,  it  does  not 


30  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

chiefly  regard  Him  as  a  legislator  and  example. 
The  Catechism,  we  know,  tells  us  of  "  God 
the  Son,  who  redeemed  me  and  all  mankind." 
Can  this  doctrine  also  be  stated  in  modern 
language  and  under  the  categories  of  modern 
thought  ? 

It  would  be  idle  not  to  confess  the  immense 
difficulties  which  here  confront  us,  or  to  claim 
that  any  school  or  party  in  the  Church 
has  an  answer  ready.  It  is  easy  to  repeat 
the  old  formulas,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  give 
them  a  real  meaning  for  the  world  as  we  view 
it  now.  At  least,  we  can  say  that  the  work 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  bound  up  with  the  exis- 
tence of  the  Christian  Society.  The  Christian 
Society  is  the  body  of  those  persons  who 
throughout  the  centuries  that  have  elapsed 
since  the  Crucifixion  of  Jesus  believe  that 
through  His  life  and  work  they  have  entered 
into  a  new  and  filial  relation  to  the  unseen 
reality  that  lies  behind  experience.  Yet  we 
must  not  say  that  Jesus  Christ  first  made 
intercourse  possible  between  God  and  man, 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM  31 


or  that  every  good  gift  of  God  has  come  to 
man  through  Jesus  Christ.  And,  moreover, 
when  we  seek  to  make  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament  our  own,  we  are  compelled 
to  translate  the  belief  of  the  first  Christians 
in  an  immediate  and  complete  catastrophe 
into  our  expectations  of  gradual  and  organic 
change. 

As  I  have  said,  no  full  answer  is  ready. 
But  something  may  be  done  along  the  line 
which  has  been  suggested  by  another  writer 
in  this  Volume,  Prof.  Percy  Gardner,  in 
Exploratio  Evangelica.  According  to  Chris- 
tian theology,  as  first  formulated  by  St  Paul, 
the  Christian  rite  of  baptism  by  which  the 
individual  enters  into  the  Christian  Society 
signifies  a  death  to  old  conditions  and  a  new 
life  imparted  and  dominated  by  the  divine 
influence.  The  man  is  now  "  in  Christ "  :  he 
breathes  a  new  air  in  the  Christian  atmosphere. 
Similarly,  says  Dr  Gardner,  old  ideas  and 
doctrines  must  be  "  baptised  into  Christ " 
before  they  can  attain  their  highest,  that  is, 


32  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

their  permanent  significance.1  The  Christian 
missionary  must  make  converts  not  only  of 
men  but  also  of  ideas,  that  they  also  may  be 
redeemed  and  purified  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  use  of  men. 

But  what,  we  must  ask,  has  our  Church  of 
England  specially  to  offer  ?  What  idea  has  it 
whereby  it  may  live  ?  The  first  answer,  as  was 
said  at  the  beginning  of  this  article,  is  that  it 
is  now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  alive.  Yet  every 
individual  is  different  in  some  way  from  others, 
whereby  it  is  individualised,  and  the  special 
mark  of  the  Anglican  Church,  apart  from  the 
historical  accidents  of  its  constitution,  is  the 
ideal  of  the  Via  Media.  These  famous  words 
have  fallen  a  little  out  of  fashion  as  a  battle- 
cry  since  the  days  of  Newman.  But  it  seems 
to  me  that  what  was  rightly  criticised  when  it 
was  regarded  as  the  description  of  an  existing 
state  of  things  may  be  justified  as  an  ideal. 
Too  often  the  Church  of  England  has  been 
content  to  rest  in  the  Via  Media  when  it 

1  P.  Gardner,  Exploratio  Evangelica,  2nd  ed.,  p.  381  f. 


THEOLOGICAL  LIBERALISM 


33 


ought  to  have  been  advancing  along  it.  The 
Via  Media  does  not  mean  that  the  Anglican 
has  just  hit  the  happy  mean  between  Rome 
and  Geneva,  Catholic  Tradition  and  Scientific 
Rationalism.  Even  if  he  may  have  done  so  at 
a  particular  moment,  we  live  in  a  changing 
world,  and  those  who  stand  still  soon  find 
themselves  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  the 
road.  But  the  idea  of  the  Via  Media,  as 
distinct  from  its  realisation  at  any  given 
moment,  is  one  that  the  Liberal  Churchman 
does  well  to  cherish.  It  represents  not  so 
much  a  compromise  between  ideals  as  an  effort 
to  render  justice  to  them  and  to  the  facts  on 
which  they  are  based.  Man  really  is  body  and 
spirit,  individual  and  social.  His  religion  must 
have  its  roots  in  the  past  and  yet  nourish  him 
in  the  present  world.  To  fulfil  this  aim  it  must 
be,  like  man  himself,  a  thing  of  mixed  nature, 
having  the  power  to  take  up  and  assimilate 
new  ideas,  to  adapt  itself  to  new  conditions, 
while  all  the  while  retaining  a  real  continuity 

with  the  past  out  of  which  it  has  sprung. 

3 


34 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


The  Church  of  England,  as  reformed  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  as  settled  by  the  Caroline 
divines,  did  represent  an  effort  to  render  justice 
to  competing  ideals  rather  than  the  tendency, 
then  dominant  elsewhere,  at  least  in  our  own 
country,  to  cherish  single  aspects  of  life  or 
doctrine  to  the  suppression  of  others.  A  harder 
task  lies  before  us,  if  our  Church  is  to  command 
the  allegiance  of  the  coming  age.  We  have  to 
carry  on  the  hope  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
the  preparation  for  it  through  a  new  and  un- 
surveyed  region.  On  the  one  hand  a  false  turn 
will  engulf  us  in  the  bog  of  intellectual  routine 
and  immobility ;  on  the  other  side  lies  the 
danger  of  losing  touch  with  the  heritage  of  the 
past  and  losing  our  way  in  the  wilderness  of  un- 
verifiable  speculation.  Yet,  after  all,  the  result 
does  not  lie  in  our  hands.  If  the  Church  be 
really  guided  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  Christians 
believe,  the  Via  Media  will  open  before  us,  and 
those  whose  ears  are  attuned  aright  will  hear 
the  word  behind  them,  saying,  "  This  is  the  way, 
walk  ye  in  it." 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  J.  R.  WILKINSON. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  Bible  is  not 
for  people  of  these  days  what  it  was  for  our 
forefathers.  It  is  not  now  so  naturally  and  in- 
stinctively appealed  to  and  accepted  as  an 
authoritative  rule  of  life,  it  is  not  read  so 
constantly  and  zealously  as  it  used  to  be.  We 
find  even  among  the  members  of  our  congrega- 
tions that  the  practice  of  regular  daily  Bible 
reading,  so  characteristic  of  the  religious  life  of 
our  forefathers,  has  lost  ground.  Moreover,  as 
we  compare  the  popular  sermon  or  religious 
discourse  of  to-day  with  the  typical  sermon  of 
past  time,  we  notice  that  the  former  is  distin- 
guished by  a  certain  emancipation  from  the 
text  of  the  Bible  and  from  that  sense  of  the 

35 


36  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


absolute  authority  of  the  Bible  which  domin- 
ated the  sermons  of  our  forefathers.  It  seems 
as  if  the  popular  religious  teacher  felt  that  his 
listeners  required  from  him  instruction  and 
help  different  from  that  which  the  Bible  affords. 
The  Bible,  in  fact,  is  not  so  popular — if  we  may 
use  this  word — as  it  once  was.   Why  is  this  so  ? 

The  decline  in  the  practice  of  mere  Bible 
reading  is  no  doubt  partly  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  Bible  now  competes  with  many  other  books 
for  the  attention  of  the  people.  In  days  gone 
by,  many  of  those  who  could  read  had  only 
the  Bible  within  their  reach  ;  now  multitudes 
of  other  books  are  easily  procurable.  This, 
however,  does  not  by  itself  account  for  the 
loosening  of  the  hold  of  the  Bible  upon  the 
popular  mind,  for  the  manifest  decrease  in  real 
deference  to  the  Bible  as  a  religious  and  moral 
authority.  The  true  explanation,  it  seems  to 
me,  lies  in  something  deeper  than  this :  in  a 
change  of  outlook,  in  a  fundamental  difference 
that  exists  between  the  modes  of  thought  of 
men  of  to-day  and  of  our  forefathers. 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  37 

This  change  of  outlook  is  specially  marked 
in  the  attitude  towards  the  miraculous.  A 
century  ago  and  less,  ordinary  people  found 
little  difficulty  in  believing  that  Almighty  God 
actually  intervened  in  the  course  of  human 
affairs  by  isolated  extraordinary  acts  of  power ; 
their  minds  could  rest  in  such  a  conception, 
and  found  in  it  a  satisfactory  explanation  of 
events  that  seemed  to  them  outside  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature.  They  attached  a  real  mean- 
ing to  the  verdict,  "  an  act  of  God."  In  one 
of  our  county  towns  the  Market  Cross  records 
an  event  which  took  place  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century — the  death  of  a  market 
woman  immediately  after  she  had  told  a  lie  in 
the  course  of  her  trading,  and  had  called  upon 
God  to  strike  her  dead  if  she  had  not  told  the 
truth.  The  people  of  those  days  could  be 
satisfied  with  the  explanation  that  this  death 
was  due  to  direct  Divine  intervention  in  order 
to  punish  a  breach  of  Divine  law.  An  instance 
such  as  this  brings  home  to  us  the  distance  we 
have  travelled  during  the  last  century.  The 


38  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

ordinary  mind  to-day  could  not  rest  in  such 
an  interpretation  of  a  similar  event ;  it  would 
instinctively  demand  a  natural  explanation, 
nor  would  it  be  satisfied  until  such  an  explana- 
tion were  forthcoming.  Whatever  theories  we 
may  hold  as  to  the  occurrence  of  miracles  in 
the  past,  we  do  not  accept,  we  cannot  accept, 
a  miracle  as  the  final  explanation  of  an  event 
of  to-day.  A  century  of  mental  revolution,  of 
marvellous  discovery  in  all  branches  of  know- 
ledge, and  of  increasing  education  among  the 
masses  of  the  people,  stands  between  us  and 
our  forefathers,  so  that  we  can  no  longer  think 
as  they. 

Now,  it  would  not  be  true  to  say  that  our 
thought  is  in  this  respect  less  religious  in 
character  than  theirs,  for  in  the  case  in  question 
the  modern  attitude  of  mind  surely  involves  a 
loftier  conception  of  the  Divine  Nature  than 
would  suffer  us  to  regard  Almighty  God  as 
directly  intervening  to  punish  a  poor  sinful 
woman.  Yet  we  must  recognise  that  this  de- 
velopment in  our  ways  of  thinking  does  make 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  39 

it  harder  for  us  than  for  our  forefathers  to 
sympathise  with  the  thought  of  the  writers 
of  the  Bible.  The  attitude  of  our  forefathers 
towards  the  miraculous  coincided  to  a  great 
extent  with  that  of  the  sacred  writers,  hence 
the  forms  of  thought  under  which  the  spiritual 
truth  of  the  Bible  is  presented  offered  no 
obstacle  to  the  reception  of  that  truth ;  our 
forefathers  came  at  once  into  intellectual 
touch  with  the  Bible,  whereas,  between  the 
mind  of  the  ordinary  man  of  our  times  and  the 
mind  of  the  Biblical  writers  there  yawns  a  gulf 
which  makes  intellectual  sympathy  difficult  and 
tends  to  isolate  the  Bible  from  the  actual  life 
of  to-day. 

It  is  a  gulf  which  is  indeed  bridged  over, 
though  perhaps  not  without  great  spiritual 
difficulty,  by  those  whose  hearts  are  in  tune 
with  the  deep  inward  truths  of  the  Bible  ;  yet 
for  the  majority  of  men,  even  of  professing 
Christians,  it  exists  unbridged.  Their  sense  of 
the  inconsistency  of  the  attitude  of  the  Biblical 
writers  with  modern  ideas  may  not  have  caused 


40  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


them  to  reject  the  Bible  as  out  of  date  and  use- 
less, they  may  still  regard  the  Bible  as  a  sacred 
book,  and  of  Divine  authority,  yet  they  so 
distinguish  between  the  Bible  record  and  the  life 
of  to-day  as  to  put  themselves  out  of  practical 
and  vital  touch  with  the  Scriptures.  They  set 
the  Bible  in  isolation.  It  treats  of  times  and 
circumstances  when  other  laws  obtained  than 
those  of  to-day.  Men  in  these  modern  days 
neither  see  nor  expect  to  see  miracles  ;  they  are 
left  to  be  guided  by  the  ordinary  light  of  con- 
science and  reason.  But  it  was  otherwise 
— they  would  assert — with  the  men  whose 
histories  are  recorded  in  the  Bible  ;  they  saw 
miracles  and  were  often  helped  and  guided 
miraculously.  The  world  of  the  Bible  is  thus 
kept  apart  from  the  world  of  ordinary  human 
life,  and  the  influence  of  the  Bible  as  a  practical 
guide  in  the  conduct  of  life  is  seriously  affected. 
How  can  the  history  of  Israel,  with  its  miracu- 
lous episodes,  and  instances  of  direct  Divine 
intervention,  be  regarded  as  affording  principles 
of  action  for  a  modern  state  which  receives  no 


1 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  41 

such  miraculous  guidance  ?  How  can  the  life 
of  the  Bible  saint  bring  real  encouragement  to 
the  man  of  to-day  in  the  time  of  temptation, 
when  the  one  is  reported  to  have  been  miracu- 
lously enlightened  and  guided  at  critical  periods 
of  his  life,  while  the  other  receives  no  such  mir- 
aculous guidance,  and  does  not  even  expect  to 
receive  it  ?  No  doubt  many  religious  teachers, 
who  have  tried  to  bring  the  warnings  and 
encouragement  of  the  Bible  to  bear  in  some 
particular  case  of  temptation,  have  received  the 
answer  once  given  to  the  writer  of  this  paper : 
"  Oh,  but  that  man  was  miraculously  helped 
by  God."  At  all  events  this  answer  expresses 
a  widespread  attitude  of  mind,  wherein  the 
Bible  is  practically  out  of  contact  with  the 
daily  life.  It  is  still  honoured  as  the  Word  of 
God ;  but  it  is  not  what  it  was  to  our  fore- 
fathers, is  not  read  as  it  used  to  be,  because  it 
does  not  seem  to  give  the  help  that  is  required 
by  men  of  to-day. 

We  are  convinced  that  the  Bible,  as  a  whole, 
can  only  be  again  brought  into  vital  touch  with 


42  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

the  life  of  to-day  by  establishing  afresh  the 
bond  of  intellectual  sympathy  with  the  Bible. 
This  cannot  be  done  by  setting  back  the  clock 
of  intellectual  development ;  we  cannot  possibly 
make  ourselves  think  in  the  way  our  forefathers 
thought.  There  is,  however,  another  method 
open  to  us,  the  method  of  Biblical  Liberalism, 
wherein  our  intellectual  attitude  towards  the 
Bible  is  affected  by  the  same  influences  which 
have  fashioned  our  intellectual  attitude  towards 
phenomena  of  life  and  nature,  so  that  our 
thought  concerning  the  Bible  is  brought  into 
harmony  with  the  instinctive  demands  of  the 
modern  intellect. 

Now,  the  modern  intellect  instinctively  de- 
mands that  nothing  in  the  world  of  phenomena 
remain  in  isolation.  The  Bible  belongs  to  this 
world  of  phenomena ;  it  is  the  product  of  the 
literary  activity  of  various  authors  throughout  a 
period  of  some  thousand  years.  In  its  outward 
form  it  presents  phenomena  similar  to  those 
of  any  other  literature.  Modern  thought  is 
therefore  compelled  by  its  very  nature  to  treat 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  43 

these  phenomena  in  the  same  way  as  it  treats 
those  of  any  other  literature.  It  cannot  rest 
in  the  conception  that  in  the  Bible,  where  men 
write  for  men,  where  thoughts  are  expressed 
in  human  words,  there  is  something  so  unique 
as  to  be  judged  by  rules  and  methods  other  than 
those  it  ordinarily  employs.  Where  history  is 
written,  modern  thought  must  bring  its  critical 
faculty  to  bear  before  the  truths  of  the  history 
can  be  assimilated.  Where  moral  teaching  is 
given  or  doctrinal  statements  are  made,  modern 
thought  cannot  treat  these  in  isolation  as 
incidents  of  supernatural  revelation ;  it  must 
view  even  these,  seeing  that  they  are  expressed 
in  human  words,  as  bound  up  with  the  history 
of  human  thought  by  the  chain  of  cause  and 
effect. 

And  Biblical  Liberalism  recognises  this 
claim  in  no  grudging  spirit.  It  does  not 
confine  modern  thought  to  the  investigation 
of  those  philological  and  historical  questions 
which  form  the  subject  matter  of  the  ordinary 
introductions  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  ;  wher- 


44  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


ever  the  mind  can  reach  it  must  have  free 
range.  Even  the  thoughts,  the  conceptions, 
expressed  in  the  writings  of  the  Bible  must  no 
longer  be  set  apart  as  above  the  sphere  of  the 
intellect ;  they  are  facts  in  the  history  of  human 
thought,  and  therefore  the  intellect  has  a  right 
to  treat  them  as  facts  ;  it  must  investigate  them 
and  comprehend  them  in  accordance  with  the 
ordinary  methods  by  which  it  comprehends 
facts. 

Biblical  Liberalism,  therefore,  accepts  and 
welcomes,  in  the  interests  of  religion,  the  results 
of  that  free  and  unfettered  assimilation  and 
interpretation  of  the  phenomena  of  the  Bible 
by  the  modern  mind  known  as  Biblical  Criticism. 
In  the  light  of  these  results  the  Bible  is  seen 
to  be  no  longer  isolated  ;  its  literature  assumes 
its  proper  place  in  the  literature  of  the  world, 
giving  and  taking ;  its  history  runs  along  the 
lines  of  orderly  natural  development ;  in  its 
religion  we  trace  a  gradual  and  natural  evolu- 
tion from  earlier  lower  conceptions  to  the 
highest  spiritual  intuitions,  running  parallel 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  45 


with  and  in  connection  with  the  gradual 
advance  of  Israel  in  civilisation  and  in  inter- 
communication with  other  civilised  nations  of 
the  Eastern  world.  While  there  is  no  lack  of 
wonder,  the  general  atmosphere  of  the  preter- 
natural in  which  the  history  of  the  Bible  is 
enwrapped  is  now  seen  to  belong  not  so  much 
to  the  events  themselves  as  to  the  attitude  of 
the  mind  of  the  narrator  who  is  often  found  to 
be  separated  by  some  considerable  distance  of 
time  from  the  facts  he  records.  In  short,  the 
distinction  between  Biblical  and  secular  history 
is  seen  to  be  abolished.  The  nation  of  Israel, 
like  any  other  nation,  developed  in  accordance 
with  natural  law  and  under  the  natural  influence 
of  its  environment ;  and  the  saints  of  the  Bible 
lived,  on  the  whole,  natural  lives,  influenced  and 
guided  as  men  are  to-day.  The  chasm  between 
the  Bible  and  the  life  of  to-day  is  thus  bridged 
over  by  Biblical  Criticism. 

But  it  may  be  objected  :  the  man  of  to-day 
who  accepts  the  results  of  Biblical  Criticism  is 
indeed  brought  into  touch  with  the  Bible ;  he 


46  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

can  now  intellectually  appreciate  and  assimilate 
the  contents  of  the  Bible  ;  the  chasm  has  been 
bridged  over,  but  has  not  the  Bible  thereby 
been  divested  of  all  that  made  it  precious  to 
mankind  ?  Can  it  contain  for  him,  as  for  our 
forefathers,  the  record  of  Divine  revelation, 
the  Divine  rule  of  life  ?  all  that  is  summed  up 
in  the  phrase — Word  of  God  ?  Records  of  in- 
stances of  Divine  supernatural  intervention 
which  his  forefathers  simply  accepted  as  a  plain 
statement  of  facts,  these  he  now  perceives  to 
be  either  legendary  or  the  supernatural  inter- 
pretation of  natural  events  ;  the  doctrine  of 
apostle  and  prophet  once  regarded  as  absolute 
truth  supernaturally  revealed  he  now  finds  to 
be  conditioned  by  the  intellectual  and  moral 
environment  of  the  teacher  and  to  have  its 
natural  place  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind. 
Has  not  the  Bible  thus  lost  for  him  its  spiritual, 
its  Divine  authority  ? 

The  objection  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  valid. 
The  sense  of  authority  in  the  Bible  depending 
entirely  upon  the  supernatural  in  the  Bible 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  47 

and  upon  its  containing  doctrines  and  rules, 
which  are  the  absolute  unconditioned  expression 
of  the  Divine  will,  has  vanished  from  the  mind 
of  him  who  has  accepted  the  position  of  Biblical 
Liberalism.  And  it  must  also  be  acknow- 
ledged that,  in  the  movement  to  apply  modern 
methods  of  inquiry  to  the  study  of  the  Bible, 
special  prominence  in  the  past  has  been  given 
to  the  destructive  side,  so  that  it  might  seem 
to  be  antagonistic  to  the  recognition  of  any- 
thing Divine  in  the  Bible.  But  we  must 
remember  that  this  whole  movement  has  been 
one  of  revolt  against  unnatural  conditions. 
The  army  of  modern  thought  has  stormed  a 
barrier  separating  it  from  that  to  which  it  felt 
it  had  a  rightful  claim — a  barrier  erected  by 
those  who,  by  unjustifiable  methods,  sought  to 
defend  the  Divine  character  of  the  Bible.  Is 
it  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  resentment  the 
charge  has  been  pressed  even  to  the  denial 
of  a  Divine  element  in  the  Scriptures  ?  The 
question,  however,  is  this  :  Whether  this  denial 
is  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  study  of  the 


48  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Bible  by  modern  methods ;  whether,  with  the 
abandonment  of  belief  in  supernatural  Biblical 
infallibility,  the  belief  in  the  Bible  as  contain- 
ing for  us  Divine  guidance  and  teaching  must 
also  go  ? 

Some  at  least  of  those  who  have  adopted 
these  modern  views  of  the  Bible  can  testify 
that  this  result  does  not  follow  by  any  means. 
They  were,  perhaps,  brought  up  in  childhood 
to  regard  the  Bible  from  cover  to  cover  as  in 
one  plane  of  Divine  revelation,  as  throughout 
the  authoritative  and  infallible  Word  of  God  ; 
with  growing  mind  and  advancing  knowledge 
their  belief  became  to  them  the  source  of 
spiritual  trouble  and  anxiety ;  at  last  they 
learned  to  view  the  sacred  writings  in  the 
perspective  of  human  development;  then  the 
Bible  became  to  them  the  Word  of  God  in- 
deed— the  source  of  spiritual  light,  encourage- 
ment, and  help.  Through  learning  to  know 
the  Bible  as  human,  through  abolishing  the 
barrier  between  the  Bible  and  the  life  of  to-day, 
they  have  learned  to  know  it  as  truly  Divine ; 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM 


49 


they  have  found  in  it  the  everlasting  Word 
of  God. 

Let  us  endeavour  to  describe  in  some  detail 
the  attitude  of  the  liberal  believer  towards  the 
Bible,  and,  in  the  first  place,  his  attitude  towards 
the  Old  Testament  as  a  whole.  He  frankly 
accepts  the  teaching  of  Biblical  criticism  that 
the  supernatural  scheme  under  which  the 
history  of  Israel  is  presented  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  not  as  a  whole  historically  accurate. 
Much  of  that  history,  more  particularly  the 
earlier  stories,  he  believes  to  be  legendary  in 
character ;  and  even  in  the  more  strictly  his- 
torical portions  he  finds  much  therein  treated 
from  the  standpoint  of  supernaturalism  which 
can  be  interpreted  more  naturally  in  accordance 
with  the  ordinary  laws  of  human  affairs.  He 
recognises  that  the  circumstances  of  the  rise 
and  fall  of  Israel  there  treated  as  the  result  of 
the  direct  blessing  and  judgment  of  God  were 
on  the  whole  the  necessary  consequence  of  the 
international  politics  of  the  time,  and  that  the 

fate  of  the  nation  was  analogous  to  that  of 

4 


50  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


many  other  small  states  of  Syria  which  suc- 
cumbed in  the  struggles  between  the  great 
empires  of  Mesopotamia  and  Egypt.  His 
mind  is  simply  compelled  to  accept  the  more 
natural  interpretation  which  pictures  Israel  as 
on  the  whole  but  one  nation  among  many, 
and  its  history  as  a  natural  episode  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  But  though  he  thus 
refuses  to  accept  the  scheme  of  the  Biblical 
writers  as  in  exact  accord  with  the  actual  facts 
of  the  history,  this  scheme  is  still  for  him  the 
most  precious  thing  in  the  Old  Testament. 
He  does  not,  like  the  pure  historian,  reject  one 
book  because  it  is  less  historical  than  another  ; 
rather  for  him  the  point  of  view  of  the  writer 
is  the  most  important  consideration.  It  is  this 
which  brings  him  into  touch  with  the  minds 
of  those  great  hero  prophets  who  traced  in  the 
course  of  the  history  of  Israel,  in  the  events  of 
the  national  life,  the  hand  of  Almighty  God 
dealing  with  men  in  accordance  with  His  own 
laws  of  holiness,  righteousness,  and  mercy. 
And  though  he  perceives  that  their  range  of 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  51 

view  was  restricted,  and  that  their  interpreta- 
tion of  the  facts  of  history  was  distorted  by 
their  religious  conceptions,  still,  those  con- 
ceptions bring  him  into  communion  with  the 
soul  of  the  prophet,  wherein  lies  the  funda- 
mental truth  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  mystery 
that  can  only  be  approached  in  reverent  faith. 
As  he  reads  the  Old  Testament  he  reads  the 
hearts  of  men  in  conscious  communion  with 
God,  who  worked  and  taught,  suffered  and 
died,  under  the  most  intense  conviction  that 
the  course  of  natural  law  and  of  human  affairs 
was  the  expression  of  the  Divine  Will.  The 
liberal  believer  may  find  much  in  the  thought 
of  these  men  that  is  limited  and  conditioned 
by  their  circumstances  ;  but  from  the  words 
and  thoughts  he  rises  into  communion  with 
the  spirit  of  the  sacred  writers,  and  there 
receives  the  Divine  message  which  fortifies 
him  in  the  faith  that  all  history,  not  only  the 
history  of  Israel,  but  also  the  history  of  his 
own  times,  is  a  most  sacred  thing,  wherein  he 
must  trace  the  working  of  the  living  God, 


52  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


who  rules  in  judgment  and  mercy.  His 
liberal  thought  has  indeed  forced  him  to  recog- 
nise that  Biblical  events  ran,  as  a  whole,  in 
accordance  with  natural  law ;  but  it  is  this  very 
perception  that  has  made  the  Old  Testament 
for  him  a  sacred  record  which  sanctifies  the 
life  of  to-day  and  delivers  to  him  a  Word  of 
God  which  is  steadfast  for  ever. 

Now,  let  us  consider  the  attitude  of  the 
liberal  believer  towards  the  New  Testament, 
and  more  particularly  towards  the  teaching  of 
such  an  one  as  the  Apostle  St  Paul.  He,  in 
the  first  place,  recognises  that  modern  investiga- 
tion of  the  circumstances  of  the  historical  and 
intellectual  environment  of  St  Paul  has  made  it 
clear  that  the  forms  under  which  that  Apostle 
delivers  his  teaching,  the  formulas  of  his  doctrine, 
can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  objects  of  direct 
Divine  revelation.  Saul  the  Pharisee  was  in 
mind  the  father  of  Paul  the  Apostle.  The 
Christian  teaching  of  the  great  missionary 
preacher  was  conceived  and  delivered  under 
the  forms  of  thought  and  expression  which  he 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  53 

had  learned  in  the  Rabbinic  schools.  The 
Hebrew  of  Hebrews,  the  zealous  Pharisee  and 
disciple  of  Gamaliel,  could  not  have  thought 
or  have  expressed  himself  otherwise.  More 
particularly  the  form  under  which  the  great 
doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith  is  stated  is 
clearly  seen  to  be  dependent  upon  ideas  current 
at  his  time  in  Rabbinic  circles.  And  even 
where  St  Paul  varies  from  strictly  Rabbinic 
modes  of  thought,  the  cause  of  variation  can 
be  generally  traced  back  to  definite  Hellenistic 
influences  which  were  at  that  time  affecting 
Jewish  thought.  Hence  the  liberal  believer 
must  recognise  that  St  Paul's  system  of 
thought  was  bound  up  with  the  thought  of 
his  day,  and,  as  such,  marks  a  transient  phase 
in  the  development  of  religious  thinking. 
But  he  does  not  rest  in  this  discovery ;  he  is 
concerned  with  a  spiritual  fact  of  which  this 
system  was  the  temporal  expression  ;  he  pierces 
beneath  the  words  and  forms  of  thought  to 
the  soul  of  him  who  was  once  a  persecutor,  and 
then,  through  his  wonderful  conversion,  became 


54  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


the  preacher  of  the  faith  which  once  he 
destroyed.  Here  there  is  revealed  to  him  a 
sacred  vision — peace  of  mind  and  confident 
sense  of  power  gained  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ ;  passionate  devotion  of  love  towards  the 
Risen  Saviour,  who  had  manifested  Himself  to 
him  ;  absolute  subjection  of  every  impulse  and 
aim  to  the  loftiest  ideals  of  service  of  God  and 
man ;  marvellous  capacity  for  illuminating 
even  the  trivial  details  of  life  with  the  highest 
religious  significance — all  centering  round  and 
enlivened  by  a  sense  of  direct  dependence  upon 
God  and  of  inspiration  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
whence  all  power,  all  love,  all  illumination,  is 
consciously  felt  to  proceed  ;  in  short,  a  person- 
ality wherein  the  believer  reverently  recognises 
the  chosen  vessel  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  through 
which  comes  now  to  him  the  inspired  Word  of 
God,  not  in  the  letter — that  is,  not  in  the  mind 
of  the  Apostle,  with  all  those  temporal  limita- 
tions which  alienate  it  from  the  modern  mind 
— but  in  the  Spirit  wherein  St  Paul  was  in 
communion   with   the   Divine  and  Eternal. 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM 


55 


And  yet  in  the  light  of  this  perception  the 
letter  is  also  sacred  to  the  liberal  believer. 
St  Paul's  writings,  St  Paul's  conceptions, 
St  Paul's  treatment  of  even  the  most  trivial 
details  of  the  life  of  his  own  days  are  the 
means  whereby,  through  study  and  meditation, 
he  is  brought  under  the  influence  of  a  person- 
ality divinely  inspired,  wherein  he  receives 
authoritative  spiritual  guidance  for  his  own  life 
and  belief. 

But  how  is  it  with  the  central  point  of  the 
Bible  ?  What  is  the  attitude  of  the  liberal 
believer  towards  the  story  of  the  Gospels  and 
towards  Him  of  whom  they  speak  ?  Here  again 
modern  inquiry  has  been  and  is  at  work ;  here 
again  "  the  human  element "  has  been  brought 
clearly  into  light,  and  much  of  the  supernatural 
glamour  in  which  the  picture  of  our  Lord's  life 
is  presented  in  the  Gospels  seems  to  be  due 
rather  to  the  form  which  the  actual  events 
took  in  the  minds  of  the  narrators.  The 
tendency  of  modern  research  is  towards  pictur- 
ing the  life  of  our  Lord  as  above  all  a  human 


56 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


life,  really  human  in  all  aspects,  lived  under 
the  human  limitations  of  knowledge  and  power 
and  the  national  limitations  of  tradition  and 
education.  To  the  modern  mind  the  very 
perfection  of  this  life  consisted  in  the  sublime 
victory  after  real  conflict,  wherein  human  faith, 
hope,  and  love  transcended  the  limitations 
of  the  environment  whenever  they  tended  to 
cramp  the  moral  energy  of  the  soul,  wherein 
the  traditional  forms  of  national  expectancy 
were  made  to  become  vehicles  of  a  new  spiritual 
Gospel.  Such  results  of  modern  historical  and 
critical  investigation  may  be  accepted  by  the 
liberal  believer.  The  letter  of  the  record  in 
the  Gospels  in  itself  does  not  present  to  him 
absolute  and  eternal  truth  ;  it  is  conditioned  by 
the  mental  environment  of  the  evangelists  and 
by  the  human  limitations  under  which  the  Life 
itself  was  lived ;  yet  behind  the  words  and 
actions  which  are  recorded  there  abides  for 
him  the  mystery  of  the  soul,  the  surpassing 
mystery  of  the  personality  of  One  who  could 
not  explain  Himself  to  Himself  otherwise  than 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  57 

under  the  Jewish  conception  of  Messiah,  of 
One  who  felt  Himself  to  be  the  peculiar  Son 
of  God,  the  Lawgiver  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
about  to  come  as  the  Divine  Judge  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven.  Here,  again,  the  liberal 
believer  is  not  so  much  concerned  with  the 
origin  and  value  of  these  terms  and  conceptions, 
as  with  the  fact  that  our  Lord  naturally  used 
them  to  express  His  own  self-consciousness. 
This  fact,  taken  together  with  the  testimony 
which  the  whole  New  Testament  gives  to  the 
sense  among  our  Lord's  immediate  followers 
of  the  unique  character  of  His  personality, 
abides  as  the  basis  of  faith  in  the  Divinity  of 
our  Lord.  And  though  it  must  be  allowed 
that,  under  the  overpowering  influence  of  such 
a  faith,  incidents  of  the  Gospel  story  have 
suffered  change  in  the  course  of  transmission, 
even  during  the  short  period  which  elapsed 
before  they  were  first  committed  to  writing — 
a  change  which  in  the  case  of  the  tradition 
preserved  in  the  Gospel  of  St  John  is  so  serious 
that  it  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  strictly 


58  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

historical  record  of  the  life  of  our  Lord—  still, 
the  liberal  believer  finds  just  in  this  Gospel 
of  St  John  what  is  for  him  the  supreme 
expression  of  the  central  truth  of  Christianity, 
that  in  the  human  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
mankind  has  received  the  personal  revelation 
of  God,  that  hi  Him  we  by  faith  see  the  Father. 

But  though  the  revelation  is  in  the  soul, 
in  the  personality  of  our  Saviour,  and  only 
relatively  and  secondarily  in  the  words  and 
actions  of  His  earthly  life,  still,  the  records  of 
the  Gospels  are  sacred  to  the  liberal  believer, 
because  through  them  he  rises  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  principles,  the  inward  motives  of  the 
perfect  Life,  and  comes  into  communion  with 
Him  who  is  the  absolute  Lord  of  the  soul. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  Bible  is  still  a  sacred 
book  to  the  liberal  believer.  He  still  finds  in 
it  the  revelation  of  the  Divine  Will,  and  the 
source  of  supreme  spiritual  help  and  enlighten- 
ment in  his  endeavour  to  perform  that  Will. 
It  is  to  him  what  no  other  book  can  be.  Not 
only  does  it  contain  the  record  of  the  origin 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  59 

and  development  of  his  religion  ;  not  only  does 
it  bring  him  to  the  fountain  head,  into  touch 
with  the  times  of  primal  fervour,  but  it  comes 
to  him  with  the  authoritative  recommendation 
of  the  conscience  of  universal  Christendom 
through  ages  past.  For  though  it  is  true  that 
accident  has  played  a  subsidiary  part  in  the 
formation  of  the  Canon  of  Scripture,  so  that 
certain  books  of  slight  moral  and  religious  value 
are  included  therein,  still,  the  consciousness  of 
the  Christian  Church  has  borne  and  still  bears 
universal  testimony  that  the  Scriptures  as  a 
whole  proceed  from  men  peculiarly  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  enlighten  and  guide  the 
souls  of  men.  The  liberal  believer  of  to-day 
acknowledges  his  spiritual  ancestry  as  his  soul 
answers  "  Amen  "  to  this  testimony. 

The  Bible  is  indeed  to  the  liberal  believer  of 
to-day  really  just  what  it  was  to  his  believing 
forefathers.  To  them  it  was  a  means  by 
which  their  souls  came  into  communion  with 
God  through  the  souls  of  inspired  men ;  so  it 
is  to  him.    Only,  the  way  to  the  end  was 


60  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

easier  in  the  past ;  our  forefathers  naturally 
sympathised  with  the  forms  of  thought  of  the 
sacred  writers  receiving  the  spirit  in  the  letter ; 
to-day  the  way  is  more  difficult :  we  must  work 
behind  the  letter  to  the  spirit.  We  have 
received  gifts  of  knowledge  and  education  that 
have  changed  our  whole  intellectual  outlook ; 
to  us  much  has  been  given ;  of  us  more  is 
required.  Those  very  gifts  of  increased  know- 
ledge and  wider  outlook,  wherein  we  are 
superior  to  our  forefathers,  must  be  devoted 
to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures ;  we  must  by 
strenuous  intellectual  effort  bring  ourselves 
into  touch  with  the  environment  and  into 
sympathy  with  the  thought  of  the  sacred 
writers,  before  soul  can  commune  with  soul, 
and  spirit  inspire  spirit ;  before  we  can  receive 
to  the  full  the  revelation  of  the  Divine  Will 
as  a  lantern  to  our  feet  and  a  light  to  our 
paths  amid  the  difficulties  and  temptations  of 
our  modern  life. 

We  have  pointed  out  a  real  defect  in  the 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  61 


general  attitude  of  our  people  towards  the 
Bible,  and  we  have  indicated  what  we  firmly 
believe  to  be  the  only  method  for  removing  it. 
The  defect  we  would  urge  is  not  only  mischiev- 
ous in  that  it  tends  to  place  the  Bible  out  of 
touch  with  the  actual  life  and  thought  of  to- 
day, but  it  is  also  dangerous  to  the  cause  of 
true  religion.  A  faith  which  is  based  upon 
those  points,  wherein  Bible  history  differs  from 
the  actual  life  of  to-day  and  the  thought  of 
the  sacred  writers  differs  from  the  educated 
thought  of  our  times,  is  defenceless  against 
the  attacks  of  those  who  advance  the  results 
of  Biblical  criticism  in  a  spirit  hostile  to  the 
Christian  Creed.  We  must  remember  that  it 
is  in  this  spirit  that  these  results  are  nowadays 
presented  in  newspapers  to  thousands  of  our 
intelligent  working  men,  and  that  the  attack 
is  dangerous  and  so  difficult  to  repel  simply 
because  our  people  have  not  been  taught  to 
realise  that  these  modern  discoveries  and 
theories  do  not  touch  the  fortress  of  the  Faith  ; 
that  all  those  old  views  concerning  the  Bible 


62  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


which  are  overthrown  by  modern  scientific 
research  are  really  immaterial,  and  that  the 
fundamental  truth  of  the  Bible  ever  remains 
where  man  cannot  reach  with  all  the  searching 
of  his  intellect,  but  only  in  the  spirit  of  humble, 
trustful  faith. 

We  plead,  therefore,  for  the  acceptance  of 
the  attitude  of  Biblical  Liberalism  in  the 
interest  of  true  religion ;  we  plead  for  the 
recognition  of  honest,  fearlessly  scientific  study 
of  the  Bible  as  the  true  friend  of  the  Faith. 
We  implore  our  brethren  in  the  ministry,  and 
more  especially  those  preparing  for  the  ministry, 
to  take  up  with  courage  the  intellectual 
burden  which  must  be  borne  for  the  sake  of 
Christ's  flock  in  these  later  days.  Why 
should  we  fear  as  we  put  our  hand  to  it  ?  We 
start  with  the  obvious  fact,  plain  upon  the  very 
surface  of  the  Bible,  that  the  authors  of  its 
books — prophets,  evangelists,  apostles — were 
men  of  God,  in  conscious  communion  with 
God,  and  convinced  that  they  had  a  message 
to  deliver  to  mankind.    We  would  share  their 


BIBLICAL  LIBERALISM  63 

faith  and  know  their  message.  We  use  all 
the  powers  of  our  mind  to  gain  the  knowledge 
which  will  bring  us  into  the  closest  possible 
touch  with  the  actual  environment  of  these 
holy  men,  not  in  order  that  we  may  become 
better  historians  of  their  times,  but  that  we 
may  know  their  souls.  If  this  aim  be  the  star 
that  guides  us,  the  way  may  be  distressful,  but 
the  goal  is  assured ;  we  know  that  with  them 
we  shall  be  brought  to  the  feet  of  our  God  and 
Saviour. 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  C.  R.  SHAW  STEWART 

Public  worship  is  intended  to  foster  the 
aspirations  of  men  towards  a  common  life, 
the  spring  of  which  is  sympathy  and  its 
activity  co-operation.  The  function  of  public 
worship  is  to  provide  for  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  worshippers  a  common  medium  for  the 
expression  of  the  desires  and  feelings  of  the 
soul.  It  takes  for  granted  that  there  is  an 
underlying  unity  that  links  the  worshippers 
together  and  also  each  and  all  of  them  to  the 
common  object  of  their  worship. 

At  the  present  moment  there  are  clear 
enough  signs  of  decaying  interest  in  current 
modes  and  forms  of  public  worship.  The 
prime  cause  of  this  is  that  these  forms  are  not 

64 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM  65 


adapted  to  present  needs.  Men  have  grown 
out  of  them.  They  no  longer  fit.  They  re- 
quire revision.  Such  revision  has  for  long 
been  talked  of ;  the  time  for  its  fulfilment  is 
ripe.  There  is  no  need  to  dilate  upon  the 
harm  the  Church  will  suffer  if,  for  lack  of 
readiness  to  consult  its  own  best  interest,  it 
should  lose  the  sympathy  and  help  of  large 
numbers  of  intelligent  and  spiritually  minded 
members. 

The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  the  national 
book  of  devotions  that  is  in  our  hands.  Since 
it  was  drawn  up  various  organised  Christian 
Churches  have  grown  out  of  the  parent  stem 
into  distinct  branches.  Each  of  these  repre- 
sents some  aspect  of  the  religious  life  of  the 
nation  ;  but  the  Prayer  Book  has  come  to  be 
generally  regarded  as  belonging  exclusively  to 
the  Church  of  England.  It  has  ceased  to  be 
in  common  use  amongst  all  Christian  commu- 
nities, and  though  originally  intended  as  a 
bond  of  union,  has  unfortunately  at  times  been 
used  as  a  weapon   of  exclusiveness.  The 


66 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


value  of  the  Prayer  Book  is  generally  admitted, 
not  only  as  a  historical  document  preserving 
the  evidence  of  continuity  of  worship  down 
the  ages,  but  also  as  containing  prayers  of  un- 
matched dignity  and  force.  Its  worth  should 
be  measured  by  its  power  to  fulfil  the  object  for 
which  it  exists.  To  value  it  for  its  own  sake, 
apart  from  its  use,  is  to  make  it  a  mere  fetish. 
There  is  a  strong  tendency  to  do  this  amongst 
a  section  of  Church  people.  The  compilers 
however,  who  in  their  day  did  their  work  so 
well,  evidently  did  not  regard  it  as  fixed  in 
form  for  all  time,  but  anticipated  its  adaptation 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  succeeding  ages. 
"  The  particular  forms  of  Divine  Worship," 
they  say  in  the  Preface  to  the  book,  "and 
the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  appointed  to  be 
used  therein,  being  things  in  their  own  nature 
indifferent,  and  alterable,  and  so  acknowledged  ; 
it  is  but  reasonable  that,  upon  weighty  and 
important  considerations,  according  to  the  vari- 
ous exigencies  of  times  and  occasions,  such 
changes  and  alterations  should  be  made  therein, 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM  67 

as  to  those  that  are  in  place  of  authority- 
should  from  time  to  time  seem  either  necessary 
or  expedient." 

It  is  both  necessary  and  expedient  that  the 
spirit  of  comprehensiveness  which  called  the 
Prayer  Book  forth  should  be  at  all  times 
maintained.  The  book  is  intended  to  cover 
ground  that  is  common  to  all  types  of 
Christian  worshippers,  and  ought  never  to  be 
captured  as  the  exclusive  possession  of  any 
one  section. 

We  pass  now  to  the  immediate  object  of 
this  paper,  and  suggest  by  various  instances 
the  lines  along  which  revision  in  the  order  of 
services  would  seem  to  be  most  practicable. 
The  adoption  of  them  would,  as  we  believe, 
remove  many  serious  hindrances  to  free  and 
intelligent  fellowship  in  common  worship.  It 
will  be  generally  admitted  that,  for  adults  at 
any  rate,  there  is  no  religious  value  in  church- 
going  unless  it  be  a  voluntary  and  whole- 
hearted act,  and  that  the  principles  of  edification 
and  sound  sense  should  be  allowed  to  have  free 


68 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


course  in  the  adjustment  of  forms  of  worship 
to  modern  needs. 

1.  We  suggest  as  desirable  that  the  Exhorta- 
tions which  are  frequent  in  the  various  services 
should  be  either  omitted  or  shortened.  They 
lengthen  the  services  unduly,  and  are  scarcely 
attended  to.  There  is  now  no  need  for  them. 
The  purpose  and  meaning  of  the  services 
ought  to  be  always  clear  enough  to  explain 
themselves.  The  worshipper  is  distracted 
rather  than  helped  if  he  is  told  from  time  to 
time  what  he  ought  to  be  thinking  and  feeling. 
He  would  prefer  to  let  the  service  make  its 
own  impression  in  its  own  way  upon  his  heart 
and  mind.  Moreover,  there  is  in  the  sermon  a 
place  specially  provided  for  exhortation.  The 
longer  exhortations  in  the  Holy  Communion 
Service  are,  with  general  consent,  almost  invari- 
ably omitted ;  that  at  the  opening  of  morning 
and  evening  prayer  is  often  either  omitted 
or  curtailed.  Again,  the  language  of  the  ex- 
hortation that  opens  the  marriage  service  is 
offensive  to  most ;  while  in  some  cases,  as  for 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM  69 

instance  in  the  Order  of  Public  Baptism  for 
infants,  doctrines  are  implied  which  by  many 
are  no  longer  believed  in. 

2.  The  use  of  the  "  Athanasian  Creed " 
should  no  longer  be  compulsory.  Its  public 
recitation  serves  no  devotional  purpose,  and  a 
large  number  of  Church  people  are  offended 
by  its  use.  In  an  increasing  number  of 
churches  its  use  is  being  discontinued.  The 
apologists  for  its  compulsory  retention  usually 
attempt  to  explain  it  in  a  non-natural  sense. 
This  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  for  its 
discontinuance.  It  is  of  first  importance  that 
the  language  of  devotion  should  be  as  plain 
and  clear  as  possible,  so  as  to  eliminate  as  far 
as  may  be  the  need  of  mental  reservation. 

3.  Many  of  the  repetitions  in  the  services 
as  they  now  stand  would  with  great  advantage 
be  avoided.  When  the  Lord's  Prayer  is 
first  said  it  is  heartily  repeated,  but  further 
recitation  of  it  during  the  same  service  tends 
to  become  mechanical  and  formal.  Again,  in 
versicle  and  petition  the  King  is  too  frequently 


70 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


mentioned,  and  thus  prayers  for  him  lose  their 
force.  It  is  often  replied  to  this  that  the  King 
is  prayed  for  as  representing  the  nation.  This 
is  quite  true ;  and  the  answer  is  that  it  would 
be  far  better  to  pray  directly  for  the  nation,  and 
in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  to  allow  words 
to  speak  for  themselves.  Again,  it  sometimes 
happens  that  two  creeds  are  said  at  the  same 
service.  It  would  seem  to  be  advisable  (so 
long  as  creeds  are  used  in  public  worship) 
that  there  should  be  only  one  recitation  at 
any  one  particular  service.  It  is  of  historical 
interest  to  know  that  repetitions  arise  from 
the  linking  of  two  or  more  offices  into  one, 
but  for  purposes  of  public  devotion  the  unitary 
effect  of  each  service  should  be  the  one  object 
of  consideration. 

4.  Liberty  in  the  use  of  the  Psalter  is  greatly 
to  be  desired.  Some  of  the  Psalms,  such  as 
the  109th,  and  parts  of  others,  are  not  only 
unedifying,  but  distinctly  outrage  Christian 
sentiment  and  teaching.  These  might  well  be 
omitted,  and  a  new  arrangement  of  the  Psalms 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM  71 

be  made,  having  regard  to  their  contents,  to 
the  fitness  of  their  juxtaposition,  and  to  the 
appropriateness  of  their  use  for  morning  or 
evening. 

5.  A  fresh  selection  of  Old  Testament 
lessons  for  Sundays  would  add  greatly  to  the 
effectiveness  of  the  services.  When  we  hear 
passages  from  the  Bible  read  aloud  we  are 
often  awakened  to  a  grandeur  and  force  in 
them  which  escapes  us  in  private  reading.  As 
the  occasions  of  thus  hearing  them  are  com- 
paratively rare,  they  would  be  used  to  greater 
gain  if  passages  from  the  Prophets  and  the 
Wisdom  Literature  were  substituted  for  some 
of  the  lessons  as  at  present  ordered. 

6.  In  the  Holy  Communion  Service  the  two 
Commandments  as  quoted  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment or  the  Beatitudes  might  well  be  used  as 
alternatives  to  the  Ten  Commandments.  The 
latter  may  be  useful  for  private  self-examina- 
tion in  view  of  preparation  for  Holy  Com- 
munion, and  no  doubt  it  is  in  this  connection 
that  they  hold  their  present  place.  Their 


72  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


negative  form,  however,  is  not  consonant  with 
the  Eucharistic  service,  and  they  contain 
some  statements  which  we  no  longer  accept 
in  their  literal  sense. 

7.  The  first  part  of  the  Commination  service 
probably  finds  few  apologists  for  its  continued 
use.  The  "  denouncing  of  God's  anger  and 
judgments  against  sinners "  has  no  place  in 
Christian  ministry,  and  the  whole  tone  of  the 
exhortation  is  out  of  touch  with  our  beliefs 
to-day.  The  sense  of  the  worth  and  dignity 
of  man  which  dominates  us  now  we  feel  to  be 
the  true  basis  of  all  Christian  teaching.  It 
transcends  and  is  disintegrating  all  teaching 
that  is  based  on  his  shortcomings  and  defects, 
and  that  regards  as  irremediable  his  perver- 
sions of  will.  It  is  just  here  that  we  touch 
the  central  principle  that  is  working  dissatis- 
faction with  an  unreformed  liturgy  and  that 
makes  it  imperative  to  adapt  it  to  our  present 
aspirations,  if  it  is  to  contain  a  genuine  ex- 
pression of  our  beliefs.  The  whole  world  of 
thought  to-day,  the  whole  horizon  of  life  is 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM  73 

other  than  that  out  of  which  the  Prayer 
Book  came.  It  is  not  native  to  us  now  to 
bemoan  "  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world  " ; 
the  God  whom  we  worship  now  is  not  one 
that  has  to  be  persuaded  to  be  attentive  to 
our  needs,  nor  propitiated  by  us  in  order 
that  His  favour  may  be  won.  Rather  is  it 
to  religion  that  we  look  to  sanction  our 
search  into  all  natural  things,  in  the  belief 
and  hope  that  everything  is  a  part  of  our 
Father's  House. 

8.  In  the  Form  and  Manner  of  Making  of 
Deacons  it  would  be  advisable  to  alter  the 
question  as  it  now  stands :  "  Do  you  unfeign- 
edly  believe  all  the  Canonical  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  ? "  and  to  make  it 
"Do you  believe  that  Holy  Scripture  containeth 
all  things  necessary  to  Salvation  ?  "  This  is  in 
accordance  with  the  Form  of  the  Ordering  of 
Priests.  An  alteration  of  the  kind  that  takes 
cognisance  of  the  fact  that  the  verbal  inspira- 
tion of  the  Bible  is  no  longer  believed  in  would 
help  to  remove  one  of  the  hindrances  that  pre- 


74 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


vents  some  from  taking  Holy  Orders,  whose 
entrance  into  the  ministry  would  be  to  the 
nation's  great  gain. 

9.  In  the  Burial  Office  an  alternative  Form 
of  Service  for  the  burial  of  young  children 
would  be  greatly  appreciated.  One  such 
Form  was  privately  printed  some  years  ago, 
and  has  been  used  on  several  occasions  to 
the  comfort  of  mourners. 

10.  Many  of  the  "  Prayers  and  Thanks- 
givings upon  several  occasions  "  are  at  present 
never  used.  Such  facts  as  our  modern  atti- 
tude towards  nature,  the  encouragement  of 
the  study  of  hygienic  and  similar  sciences  as 
part  of  our  national  education,  and  our  aspira- 
tions towards  international  harmony,  make  it 
necessary  that  the  language  of  some  of  them 
should  be  altered.  There  are  also  many 
additions  that  would  be  valuable. 

The  activities  of  Church  life  are  now  mani- 
fold. Prayers  for  such  objects  as  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions,  Religious  Education, 
Hospitals,  Philanthropic  Institutions,  Prisons, 


DEVOTIONAL  LIBERALISM  75 

and  the  like,  would  emphasise  the  fact  that, 
on  occasions,  common  interests  are  astir  in 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  worshippers,  the 
expression  of  which  would  give  greater  reality 
to  the  Services. 

Such  are  some  of  the  main  alterations  that 
would  materially  affect  the  value  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  and  would  help  to  put  new  life  into  the 
Services  of  the  Church.  The  demand  is  for 
nothing  revolutionary,  but  for  greater  liberty, 
and  for  a  wise  trust  in  the  discretion  of 
congregations  to  adapt  the  Prayer  Book  to 
the  type  of  service  that  suits  each  best.  At 
present  no  one  professes  to  keep  the  letter  of 
the  Rubrics,  yet  they  are  of  equal  authority ; 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
to  make  some  more  imperative  than  others. 
In  short,  the  Act  of  Uniformity  is  out  of 
date.  It  is  time  that  this  were  recognised. 
Then  unhappy  strifes  about  Rubrics  would 
cease  to  exist.  The  Church  would  be  free 
to  rise  towards  the  fulfilment  of  its  true 
mission,  and  to  witness  that  in  the  spiritual 


76  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


order  unity  of  purpose  ever  manifests  itself 
in  variety  of  expression. 

The  main  principle  at  issue  is  that  forms  are 
made  for  man,  not  man  for  forms.  The 
human  spirit  is  greater  than  any  of  its  ex- 
pressions, and  itself  creates  the  channels  for  its 
own  outflow.  "  The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is, 
when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the 
Father  in  spirit  and  truth  ;  for  such  does  the 
Father  seek  to  be  His  worshippers." 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  Dr  RASHDALL 

There  has  always  been  in  the  Church  of 
England  a  party  which  used  to  be  described  as 
Latitudinarian,  but  which  in  modern  language 
would  be  described  as  Liberal.  By  a  Lati- 
tudinarian party  is  or  was  meant  a  party  which 
took  up  an  intermediate  position  between  the 
more  Catholic  and  the  more  Calvinistic  sections 
of  the  English  Church,  which  was  disposed  to 
make  comparatively  little  of  the  points  about 
which  Christians  disagreed,  to  claim  a  large 
measure  of  liberty  in  thought  and  in  expression 
for  both  clergy  and  laity,  and  consequently  to 
advocate  a  free  interpretation  of  the  formulas 
by  which  at  any  given  time  members  of  the 

77 


78  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Church  were  bound.  Of  the  men  who  inspired 
the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century  many 
might  certainly  be  described  as  Latitudinarians 
in  this  sense — to  say  nothing  of  Erasmus  (to 
whom  Warham  offered  an  English  benefice), 
Dean  Colet,  and  others  before  the  breach  with 
Rome.  A  school  more  definitely  approximat- 
ing to  Modern  Liberalism  is  to  be  found  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  or  rather  two  schools — 
the  Cambridge  Platonists,  whose  attitude  to 
non-Christian  thought,  and  whose  views  about 
free-will  and  predestination,  were  hard  enough 
to  reconcile  with  either  the  letter  or  the  spirit 
of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  men  like  Chillingworth  and  Jeremy 
Taylor,  whose  Liberalism  was  based  rather 
upon  a  vast  acquaintance  with  the  history — 
and  consequently  with  the  variations  and  un- 
certainties— of  dogma  in  the  past  than  upon 
a  philosophical  attitude  towards  creeds  and 
dogmas  in  general.  Chillingworth  was  long 
prevented  from  taking  holy  orders  by  scruples 
about  the  Athanasian  Creed,  and  would  cer- 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  79 


tainly  have  been  glad  to  get  rid  of  it  altogether. 
Jeremy  Taylor's  desire  to  include  in  the 
membership  of  the  Church,  and  apparently  in 
its  ministry,  all  who  accepted  the  Apostle's 
Creed  went  beyond  the  widest  limits  of  com- 
prehension which  now,  two  centuries  and  a  half 
later,  commend  themselves  to  those  who  are 
most  fond  of  appealing  to  the  authority  of  the 
Anglican  Fathers.  In  the  person  of  Tillotson 
a  questioner  of  everlasting  punishment — often 
described  by  opponents  as  a  "Deist" — mounted 
the  throne  of  St  Augustine.  As  the  eighteenth 
century  progressed,  a  certain  kind  of  Latitu- 
dinarianism  became,  it  may  almost  be  said, 
the  dominant  tone  of  the  Church  of  England. 
It  was  for  preaching  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  precisely  in  the  way  in  which  it 
is  defined  in  the  Articles,  that  John  Wesley 
found  pulpit  after  pulpit  in  his  own  Church 
closed  against  him :  while  before  its  revival 
by  Keble  and  Newman,  the  high  Anglican 
doctrine  favoured  by  one  side  of  our  formulas 
was  commonly  supposed  to  have  "gone  out 


80  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

with  the  non-jurors."  The  Athanasian  Creed 
was  probably  omitted  more  frequently  then 
than  now.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  there 
has  been  no  period  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  England  up  to  the  days  of  the  Oxford 
Movement  at  which  there  have  not  been 
thousands  of  the  clergy  who  could  only  justify 
their  position  in  its  ranks  by  taking  in  a  very 
loose  and  liberal  sense  some  part  or  side  of  the 
authorised  formula*. 

The  Oxford  Movement  itself,  while  it  intro- 
duced a  tendency  towards  the  exaltation  of 
dogma  and  dogmatic  accuracy  which  had  been 
foreign  to  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  Church 
of  England  at  least  for  the  preceding  century 
and  a  half,  only  added  to  the  divergence 
between  the  actual  opinions  of  the  clergy  and 
the  formulas  which  they  subscribed.  One  of 
the  most  characteristic  Tracts  for  the  Times 
advocated  a  method  of  interpretation  designed 
to  reconcile  with  the  letter  of  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles  precisely  those  doctrines  of  the 
Roman  Church  against  which  it  is  admitted 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  81 

that  they  were,  in  the  minds  of  their  framers, 
intended  to  guard. 

Liberalism,  then,  is  no  new  thing  in  the 
Church  of  England.    The  claim  of  the  clergy 
to  interpret  very  freely  —  often  in  a  sense 
notoriously  opposed  to  the  meaning  of  their 
framers — large  portions  of  the  Church's  for- 
mulas can  only  be  refused  on  a  principle  which 
involves  the  imputation  of  "  dishonesty "  to, 
it  may  be  almost  said,  a  majority  among  the 
clergy  from  the  days  of  the  Reformation  down 
to  the  present,  including  the  most  famous  and 
revered  leaders  of  every  school  of  thought. 
In  one  respect,  however,  the  Liberalism  of 
the  present  day  differs  from  that  of  all  previous 
periods.    The  part  of  the  authorised  standards 
about  which  the  old  Latitudinarians  found  the 
least  difficulty  was  the  actual  text  of  Scripture. 
[  They  were  more  or  less  aware  of  the  apparent 
i  inconsistencies  and  contradictions  to  be  found 
I  in  Scripture — even  in  the  New  Testament. 
They  were  aware  how  far  the  Creeds  and 

Articles  had  gone,  in  the  settlement  of  disputed 

6 


82  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


questions,  beyond  what  could  really  be  proved 
by  the  authority  of  the  sacred  writers.  They 
were  consequently  indisposed  to  define  where 
the  Bible  had  not  defined,  or  to  erect  great 
systems  of  doctrine  upon  the  basis  of  chance 
expressions  or  isolated  texts,  obscure  passages 
or  passages  apparently  contradicted  by  other 
passages.  Occasionally  they  might  even  throw 
out  hints  which  pointed  to  differences  in  cer- 
tainty or  authority  between  one  part  of  the 
Scriptures  and  another.  But  it  was  just  the 
most  liberal-minded  of  the  older  Divines  who 
would  have  been  most  ready  to  "  subscribe  " 
the  actual  text  of  Scripture  if  they  could  only 
be  dispensed  from  subscribing  elaborate  defini- 
tions like  the  Athanasian  Creed,  or  Articles 
which,  as  they  were  aware,  represented  but  a 
fleeting  and  compromising  phase  of  theological 
opinion. 

The  distinctive  note  of  the  Liberalism 
which  began  to  appear  about  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  was  that  it  is  the  actual 
letter  of  the  Bible  itself  which  it  claims  to 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  83 


interpret  in  a  liberal  manner.  It  is  the  virtu- 
ally new  science  of  historical  criticism  that 
has  created  the  phase  of  theological  opinion 
which  is  usually  understood  by  the  word 
Liberalism  at  the  present  day.  It  is  unneces- 
sary here  to  analyse  the  intellectual  influences 
which  have  led  to  this  new  attitude  towards 
the  Bible.  Closer  study  of  the  Scriptures 
themselves  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with  wider 
knowledge  and  closer  study  of  other  religions, 
other  sacred  books,  other  ancient  writings  of 
all  kinds.  Thomas  Arnold  once  expressed 
the  wish  that  some  one  should  do  for  the 
Old  Testament  what  Niebuhr  had  done  for 
Roman  History.  Arnold's  aspiration  has 
been  abundantly  satisfied  by  the  labours  of 
Ewald,  Graf,  Kuenen,  Wellhausen,  and  a 
host  of  other  inquirers.  The  result  has  been 
not  unlike  the  result  of  Niebuhr's  labours 
upon  Roman  History.  No  competent  scholar 
now  claims  for  the  Pentateuch  a  more  his- 
torical character  than  Niebuhr  allowed  for 
the  earlier  parts  of  Livy ;  or  claims  for  the 


84  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

historical  books  in  general  any  greater  im- 
munity from  error  in  detail,  from  the  dis- 
torting influences  of  theological  or  national 
prejudice,  than  can  be  claimed  for  the  ancient 
chronicles  of  other  peoples.  And,  when  we 
turn  to  the  religious  ideas  of  the  books,  it  is 
now  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment exhibits  a  gradual  evolution  from  the 
polytheistic  religion  and  the  crude  ethics  of  a 
barbarous  tribe  to  the  purest  Monotheism  and 
the  loftiest  ethical  standard  known  to  the 
pre-Christian  world.  Nor  has  this  critical 
attitude  towards  the  Old  Testament  been 
without  its  influence  upon  our  ideas  about 
the  New.  Competent  scholars  may  differ  con- 
siderably as  to  the  measure  of  change  which 
the  critical  study  of  the  New  Testament  writ- 
ings has  necessitated  in  traditional  views  as 
to  date,  authorship,  and  historical  credibility ; 
but,  while  no  sober  critic  supposes  that  our 
confidence  in  the  historical  character  of  the 
New  Testament  has  been  shaken  to  anything 
like  the  extent  which  has  been  the  case  with 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  85 


regard,  for  instance,  to  the  Pentateuch  or  the 
Book  of  Daniel,  no  one  will  any  longer  assert 
that  the  Gospels  are  wholly  free  from  error 
in  detail,  or  defend  the  view  of  Inspiration 
which  was  common  among  Christians  of  all 
schools  a  century  ago.  But  I  will  not  go  on 
describing  a  change  of  opinion  with  which 
everyone  is  familiar.  What  I  am  concerned 
with  here  is  the  bearing  of  these  changes  in 
the  theological  situation  upon  the  position  of 
Liberals  in  the  Church  of  England. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  an  essay  like  the 
present  it  will  be  quite  impossible  to  argue  in 
favour  of  any  particular  theological  position. 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  discuss  whether  each 
or  all  of  the  opinions  commonly  described  as 
liberal  are  true,  or  whether  their  propagation 
is  desirable.  I  must  assume  that  we  are  agreed 
(1)  that  considerable  changes  are  necessary 
in  the  old-fashioned  ideas  about  the  truth, 
authority,  and  inspiration  of  Scripture — par- 
ticularly, though  not  exclusively,  of  the  Old 
Testament ;  (2)  that  it  is  desirable  that  the 


86 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


clergy  should  study  the  questions  to  which 
their  altered  attitude  towards  Scripture  inevit- 
ably gives  rise ;  and  (3)  that  the  position  of 
a  clergyman  should  not  be  closed  to  those  who 
arrive,  whether  before  or  after  ordination,  at 
what  are  commonly  called  the  more  advanced 
results  on  such  questions.  1  write  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  Liberal  in  Theology,  and 
what  I  write  is  not  likely  to  appeal  to  any 
who  are  not  already  more  or  less  of  the  same 
mind.  The  questions  which  I  propose  to 
discuss  are:  (i.)  the  justifiability  of  a  liberal 
position  in  a  clergyman  who  is  required,  as 
the  condition  of  his  ordination,  to  subscribe 
certain  formulas;  (ii.)  the  limits  of  permissible 
latitude  in  the  interpretations  of  such  formulas ; 
and  (iii. )  the  prospects  of  theological  Liberal- 
ism in  the  Church  of  England. 

(i.)  The  principle  upon  which  a  man  is  justi- 
fied in  subscribing  or  using  a  formula  which 
does  not,  understood  in  the  natural  and  literal 
sense,  represent  the  actual  state  of  his  belief, 
is  mainly,  I  take  it,  this — that  for  such  pur- 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  87 

poses  words  must  be  taken  to  mean  what  they 
are  generally  understood  to  mean.  When  a 
modern  man  takes  the  oath  of  allegiance,  he 
certainly  does  not  intend  to  do  all  the  things 
which  "  allegiance  "  would  have  been  held  to 
mean  by  a  Tudor  king  or  a  Tudor  parliament 
or  the  general  opinion  of  that  epoch :  but 
nobody  supposes  that  he  does,  and  therefore 
he  is  not  guilty  of  perjury  or  lying  or  dis- 
honesty when  he  takes  the  oath.  Few  people 
will  accuse  of  dishonesty  a  radical  member  who 
takes  the  oath,  though  he  would  be  prepared, 
under  certain  circumstances,  to  join  in  the  for- 
cible establishment  of  a  Republic.  Nor,  even 
when  the  first  or  the  second  Act  of  Unifor- 
mity was  passed,  was  it  the  intention  of  King 
or  Parliament  to  exclude  from  the  ministry 
of  the  Church  of  England  all  who,  if  they  had 
thought  the  matter  out  for  themselves,  would 
have  arrived  at  conclusions  about  the  relation 
between  faith  and  works,  or  about  the  Euchar- 
ist or  Baptism,  more  or  less  at  variance  with 
the  Articles.    The  most  that  was  required 


88 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


was  that  they  should  be  silent  about  such 
differences.  The  inevitable  progress  of  theo- 
logical opinion  practically  extended  the  limits 
generally  recognised  as  compatible  with 
honesty  long  before  the  growth  of  modern 
Liberalism. 

The  older  Latitudinarians  had,  as  we  have 
seen,  little  difficulty  or  reservation  in  declaring 
their  belief  in  the  Bible.  And  the  terms  used 
in  assenting  to  the  Bible  are  much  stronger 
and  more  unambiguous  than  any  now  em- 
ployed— at  least  since  1865,  when  the  present 
declaration  of  Assent  was  substituted  for  a 
much  stronger  one — with  regard  to  the  Prayer 
Book  or  Articles  of  Religion.  The  candidate 
for  Ordination  is  still  required  to  say,  "  I  un- 
feignedly  believe  the  Canonical  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament."  That  is  a  very 
much  stronger  and  more  personal  declaration  of 
belief  than  the  vague  "  I  assent  to  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles  of  Religion  and  to  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  ...  I  believe  the  doctrine 
of  the  Church  of  England  as  therein  set  forth 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  89 


to  be  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God."  And 
if,  in  the  early  days  of  Biblical  Criticism, 
any  one  had  scrupled  to  take  the  first  pledge, 
though  he  might  have  found  no  difficulty 
with  the  second,  he  would  have  much  to 
say  for  himself.  He  might  certainly  have 
alleged  that  public  opinion  did  not  under- 
stand a  candidate  for  Orders  to  pledge 
himself  to  any  exact  agreement  with  the 
more  Calvinistic  Articles  or  with  the  stronger 
sacramental  implications  of  the  Communion 
and  Baptismal  offices  :  but  that  there  was  no 
such  general  agreement  that  a  man  might 
announce  belief  in  all  the  Canonical  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  although  he 
regarded  the  early  chapters  of  Genesis  as 
mythical  and  the  book  of  Daniel  as  a  work  of 
fiction.  A  pupil  of  Dr  Arnold's,  who  had  been 
struck  by  the  applicability  of  Niebuhr's  doubts 
to  early  Hebrew  History,  might  well  have  felt 
such  a  difficulty  about  enlarging  the  limits  of 
permissible  latitude  in  interpretation.  But  at 
the  present  day  such  a  line  can  hardly  be  taken 


90 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


by  the  advocate  of  strict  subscription.  For  it 
is  precisely  about  the  Bible  that  the  need  for 
latitude  is  most  generally  felt.  There  is  no 
instructed  clergyman  of  the  present  day  who 
really  believes  every  word  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments — which  would  be  the  obvious  and 
prima  facie  meaning  of  "  I  unfeignedly  believe 
all  the  Canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament."  There  is  scarcely  to  be 
found  a  learned,  or  even  an  instructed,  clergy- 
man under  (say)  sixty  years  of  age  who  does  not 
recognise  that  large  portions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  unhistorical,  that  the  Second  Petrine 
Epistle  is  or  may  be  pseudonymous,  that  there 
are  in  the  Gospels  discrepant  versions  of 
our  Lord's  acts  and  sayings  which  cannot  all 
be  true.  These  things  are  now  admitted  by 
the  very  zealots  of  Orthodoxy — by  those  who 
most  loudly  clamour  for  the  silencing  of  other 
opinions  of  which  they  disapprove.  It  will 
suffice  to  quote  a  few  of  the  things  which 
have  been  said  about  the  Bible  by  the  Bishop 
who  has  most  strenuously  and  constantly  in- 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  91 

sisted  upon  a  strict  interpretation  of  clerical 
obligations  in  this  matter. 

"  Their  highest  praise,"  says  the  Bishop  of 
Birmingham,  in  reference  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures,  "  is  that  we  now  see  them  to 
be  defective"  (Lux  Mundi,  1st  ed.,  p.  330). 
"  Various  are  the  degrees  of  this  inspiration  " 
(p.  342).  "  There  is  a  profound  air  of  historical 
truthfulness  pervading  the  Old  Testament 
record  from  Abraham  downwards  "  ;  not,  it  is 
implied,  before  Abraham  (p.  351).  "Thus  the 
Church  cannot  insist  upon  the  historical  char- 
acter of  the  earliest  records  as  she  can  on 
the  historical  characters  of  the  Gospels  or 
the  Acts  "  (p.  352).  "  Criticism  distinguishes 
distinct  stages  in  the  growth  of  the  law  of 
worship,"  i.e.  Moses  did  not  say  things  which 
the  Bible  says  he  did  say.  "  The  book  of 
Wisdom  .  .  .  professes  to  be  written  by 
Solomon,  but  is  certainly  not  written  by 
him "  (p.  353).  Finally,  the  writer  asks 
whether  the  earlier  narratives  of  Genesis  are 
not  "  of  the  nature  of  myth  "  (p.  357).  All 


92 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


this  is  very  attenuated  criticism,  but  it  is 
enough  for  our  purpose. 

We  all  remember  the  storm  of  opposition 
which  these  mild  utterances  provoked  in  1889. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  to  exaggerate  the 
services  which  the  Bishop  of  Birmingham  has 
rendered  to  the  liberal  cause  by  his  courage 
in  avowing  what,  by  that  time,  almost  all 
serious  scholars  thought,  and  by  the  tolera- 
tion which  his  influence  has  won  for  such  views. 
But  it  does  not  lie  in  the  mouth  of  such  a  pre- 
late to  accuse  of  dishonesty  those  who  disbelieve 
other  historical  events  which  are  no  less  and 
no  more  contained  in  the  "  Canonical  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  "  than  those 
which  he  doubts.  Much  stronger  denials  of 
facts  or  doctrines  contained  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  could,  of  course,  be  quoted 
from  the  writings  of  the  late  Archbishop 
Temple,  of  Bishop  Moorhouse  (late  of  Man- 
chester), of  the  present  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
of  prelates,  Divinity  Professors  and  private 
scholars  without  number,  men  who  have  risen 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  93 

to  high  positions  in  the  Church  with  general 
approval,  and  whom  scarcely  anyone  accuses 
even  of  grave  unorthodoxy,  to  say  nothing 
of  dishonesty.  The  public  opinion  which 
approves  of  such  men  retaining  the  positions 
for  which  they  have  qualified  by  asserting 
their  belief  in  all  the  Canonical  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  assent- 
ing to  the  Prayer  Book  and  Articles,  must 
be  taken  to  have  sanctioned  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Bible,  the  Ordination  declaration 
of  belief  in  it,  and  the  declaration  of  assent  in 
a  very  liberal  and  non-natural  sense.  It  can- 
not be  said  that  a  candidate  for  Orders  is  guilty 
of  deception  or  dishonesty  because  he  dis- 
believes (in  their  obvious  sense)  one  part  of 
the  formularies,  when  the  public  in  general 
knows  very  well  that  his  own  Metropolitan, 
his  own  Bishop,  his  Vicar,  and  the  authorised 
instructor  who  taught  him  theology  disbelieve 
the  same  or  other  portions  of  them,  and  ac- 
quiesces in  their  doing  so. 

(ii.)  "But,"  it  will  be  said,  "granting  that 


94  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


there  is  a  general  consent  to  allow  of  some 
latitude  in  the  interpretation  of  these  formu- 
laries, are  there  to  be  no  limits  to  such  a 
latitude  ?  Granted  that  Subscription  does  not 
mean  what  the  words  literally  suggest,  do  they 
mean  nothing  at  all  ?  Is  there  no  •  doctrine  of 
the  Church  of  England '  to  which  a  candidate 
for  orders  may  reasonably  be  held  to  pledge 
himself  ? "  I  answer  "  Certainly,  there  must 
be  limits  " :  and  I  think  I  shall  carry  with  me 
a  general  consent  if  I  add  :  "  What  a  candidate 
for  Orders  must  be  taken  to  pledge  himself  to 
is  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity,  as 
understood  by  the  Church  to  whose  ministry 
he  aspires."  The  real  difficulty  arises  when  we 
proceed  to  ask  :  "  What  are  essential  and  what 
are  unessential  doctrines  ? "  Attempts  will  be 
made  in  various  quarters  to  substitute  some 
other  rigid,  external  test  for  that  requirement 
of  literal  belief  in  every  word  contained  in 
Bible,  Prayer  Book,  and  Articles  which  is 
admitted  to  be  at  the  present  day  an  excessive 
and  impossible  requirement.    The  most  popu- 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  95 


lar  attempt  to  substitute  another  external  test 
for  the  one  which  has  been  abandoned  by  tacit 
and  universal  consent  puts  the  creeds  in  the 
place  of  the  Bible  and  the  Articles.  Now  I  am 
far  from  denying  that  the  creeds  —  not  on 
account  of  any  difference  in  the  terms  in  which 
the  clergyman  assents  to  them — but  because  of 
the  position  which  they  practically  hold  in  the 
worship,  the  theological  belief,  and  the  religious 
life  of  the  great  mass  of  Churchmen  have  a 
claim  to  respect  greater  than  the  vast  mass  of 
historical  facts  and  often  inconsistent  ideas 
contained  in  various  parts  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  The  great  majority  of  instructed 
Churchmen  will  admit,  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  that  there  are  some  things  in  Scrip- 
ture which  they  do  not  believe  and  do  not 
expect  others  to  believe :  as  to  the  Articles, 
they  are  seldom  mentioned  without  derision 
and  contempt  by  the  very  party  in  the  Church 
of  England  which  professes  the  fiercest  zeal  for 
dogmatic  orthodoxy.  But  the  average  Church- 
man is  less  easily  brought  to  admit  that  there 


96  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

is  anything  in  the  creeds  which  he  disbelieves. 
And  yet  even  here  cross-examination  will 
probably  reveal  a  considerable  amount  of  more 
or  less  unconscious  liberalising,  allegorising, 
minimising,  or  other  attempt  to  accommodate 
the  ideas  of  the  present  to  the  radically 
different  beliefs  of  a  previous  age.  In  the  first 
place  there  is  the  Athanasian  Creed,  which 
declares  that  not  merely  unbelievers  and  Uni- 
tarians, but  all  believers  in  Monophysitism,  Ap- 
pollinarianism  which  was  imputed  to  St  Cyril 
and  now  has  adherents  among  those  who  think 
themselves  most  orthodox,  or  Nestorianism  (a 
leaning  to  which  school  has  been  freely  and 
plausibly  attributed  to  some  of  our  most 
dogmatic  divines),  are  doomed  to  everlasting 
flames.  I  doubt  if  there  is  a  Bishop  in  the 
Anglican  Communion  who  really  believes 
that  appalling  doctrine,  without  some  kind 
or  other  of  reservation  quite  unauthorised  by 
the  text  of  the  creed  or  the  actual  meaning 
of  those  who  put  it  there.  Here,  again,  I 
may  appeal  to  the  authority  of  the  Bishop 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  97 


of  Birmingham,  who  has  expressly  admitted 
that  these  clauses  go   slightly  beyond  the 
real  mind  of  the  Church.     Yet  the  Church 
of  England  attributes  to  the  Nicene  and 
Apostles'  creeds  no  authority  which  it  does 
not  attribute  to  the  Athanasian.    All  three 
"ought  thoroughly  to  be  received  and  believed." 
But  even  in  the  two  less  elaborate  creeds  there 
are  clauses  which  many  reputedly  orthodox 
persons  can  only  assent  to  with  a  good  deal  of 
what,  when  used  by  more  advanced  Liberals,  is 
described  as  "  strained,"  "  non-natural,"  or  even 
"  disingenuous  "  interpretation.    Few  modern 
theologians,  in  declaring  their  belief  in  the 
"  descent  into  Hell,"  believe  in  that  literal 
preaching  by  the  disembodied  spirit  of  Christ 
to  the  spirits  in  a  local  Hades  during  the  inter- 
val between  His  death  and  His  Resurrection, 
which  was  certainly  meant  by  the  Fathers  and 
the  early  Church  when  they  inserted  that  clause 
in  the  creed.    Few  would  be  prepared  to  say 
that  any  one  who  puts  upon  the  idea  of  Christ's 
coming  "to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the 


98  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


dead  "  the  meaning  which  Maurice  and  Kingsley 
put  upon  it  has  no  right  to  remain  clergymen  of 
the  Church  of  England.  And  yet  the  interpre- 
tation which  dissolves  the  coming  in  judgement 
into  a  gradual  process  which  is  even  now  taking 
place  in  the  events  of  the  world's  history  can 
hardly  be  called  a  literal  interpretation.  If  it  is 
asserted  that  these  are  not  "essential  doctrines," 
it  may  be  replied  that  that  is  a  matter  of  private 
opinion :  and  that  there  are  many  who  regard 
such  doctrines  as  the  Virgin  Birth  of  our  Lord 
and  His  bodily  Resurrection  (not  in  the  sense 
of  a  vision  which  historically  occurred  to  the 
disciples,  but  in  the  sense  of  a  literal  reanima- 
tion  of  the  body  placed  in  the  tomb)  as  no 
more  essential  to  Christianity  than  the  other 
matters,  no  less  unhesitatingly  asserted  by  the 
creeds,  about  which  liberty  of  interpretation 
is  practically  conceded.  There  is  no  intelligible 
principle  of  interpretation  according  to  which 
the  belief  in  the  everlasting  punishment  of 
heretics,  in  the  descent  into  Hell,  in  the  future 
coming  of  Christ,  in  the  Resurrection  of  the 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  99 

body,  can  be  mitigated  or  spiritualised,  which 
will  not  equally  permit  us  to  take  the  word 
"  Virgin "  to  mean  a  young  woman,  or  to 
understand  by  "  He  rose  again  from  the  dead  " 
a  vision  of  the  risen  and  immortal  Christ.  It 
is  impossible  here  to  discuss  the  actual  truth 
or  the  importance  of  these  beliefs.  It  is  open, 
of  course,  to  anyone  to  contend  that  the  tolera- 
tion of  the  one  set  of  opinions  is,  in  his  private 
opinion,  desirable  in  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church,  while  that  of  the  other  set  is  undesir- 
able. What  is  not  open  to  any  man  of  com- 
mon intellectual  consistency  or  common  moral 
honesty  is  to  accuse  the  one  kind  of  non-literal 
interpretation  of  dishonesty  while  he  claims 
for  himself,  or  concedes  to  his  friends,  the 
other  instances  of  non-literal  interpretation. 

But,  I  shall  now  be  asked — it  may  be  in 
some  quarters  with  growing  irritation  and  in- 
dignation— "  How  far  is  this  to  go  ?  Where 
do  you  put  the  limits  of  permissible  toleration? 
If  these  historical  statements  may  be  explained 
away,  why  not  the  more  distinctly  doctrinal 


100  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


statements  ?  If  the  bodily  Resurrection,  why 
not  every  form  of  historical  Resurrection  ?  If 
the  Virgin  Birth,  why  not  the  Incarnation,  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  the  Holy  Trinity?"  I 
admit  that,  so  long  as  the  matter  is  treated 
as  a  question  of  "  honesty "  or  "  veracity," 
it  might  be  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
the  "  explanations  "  or  "  interpretations  "  which 
everybody  allows  and  others  which  would  leave 
standing  very  little  of  what  any  average  person 
would  recognise  as  the  Christian  Religion. 
We  have  all — High  Churchmen,  Low  Church- 
men, Broad  Churchmen,  moderate  Liberals 
and  extreme  Liberals — gone  too  far  to  have 
any  basis  for  accusing  one  another  of  "dis- 
honesty." The  only  people  who  ought  really 
to  be  accused  of  at  least  intellectual  "  dis- 
honesty" are  those  clergymen  who  pretend 
that  they  are  themselves  honest  and  everybody 
else  dishonest.  But  the  practical  question  is 
not  now  one  of  honesty,  but  of  spiritual  ex- 
pediency. I  should  be  very  sorry  to  draw  up 
a   list   of  the   opinions    which    could  not 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  101 


"  honestly "  be  held  by  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England.  But  I  could  mention 
many  opinions  which  would  make  it  extremely 
undesirable  for  a  man  to  become  a  clergyman 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  interests  of 
that  Church  itself,  of  his  own  religious  life,  and 
of  the  community  generally. 

But,  it  will  be  asked,  "  Who  is  to  be  the 
judge  of  this  spiritual  expediency  ? "  I  answer, 
"  Primarily,  each  man  must  judge  for  himself." 
But  I  will  add  that,  in  making  his  decision,  he 
will  do  well  to  pay  regard  to  the  actual  state 
of  religious  opinion  in  the  community  which  he 
proposes  to  serve,  and  particularly  (if  he  feels 
any  doubt)  to  the  judgement  of  the  Bishop 
from  whom  he  seeks  ordination.  It  is  not 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles  or  the  Declaration  of 
Assent  which  create  the  practical  difficulty, 
but  the  actual  opinions  of  Churchmen.  Many 
congregations  would  be  far  more  likely  to  be 
shocked  and  scandalised — far  more  likely  to 
talk  about  dishonesty  and  unfaithfulness  to 
ordination  vows — if  a  clergyman  taught  what 


102 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


is  actually  contained  in  the  Articles  and 
some  of  the  Homilies  than  if  he  taught 
many  things  which  they  condemn.  1  do  not 
mean,  of  course,  that  an  intending  clergyman 
must  simply  make  the  present  opinions  of 
average  Churchmen  into  his  really  operative 
standard  of  doctrine.  That  would  involve  the 
negation  of  all  progress,  of  all  intellectual 
honesty,  of  the  very  idea  of  a  teaching  ministry. 
I  mean  that  there  is  a  degree  of  incompati- 
bility between  the  individual's  opinions  and  the 
dominant  opinion  of  a  religious  society  which 
makes  his  ministry  in  that  communion  quite 
possible  and  spiritually  advantageous,  and  there 
is  a  degree  which  is  inconsistent  with  it.  In  the 
Church  of  England  the  compulsory  use  of  the 
Prayer  Book  and  the  Creeds  still  further  limits 
the  range  of  expedient  latitude.  A  man  may 
quite  well  use  a  Creed  and  a  Liturgy  in  which 
there  are  occasional  expressions  which  he  has 
to  explain  in  a  non-natural  way,  or  which  grate 
upon  his  feelings.  There  are  few  thoughtful 
clergymen — High,  Low,  or  Broad — who  would 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  103 


not  admit  that  there  are  particular  prayers, 
sentences,  perhaps  whole  services  which  they 
would  like  to  alter  considerably.  At  least  a 
third  of  the  clergy  would  be  very  glad  to  change 
the  present  Communion  Office  for  that  of  the 
first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI.  Strong 
Evangelicals  dislike  the  Baptismal  Office. 
Broad  Church  clergymen  and  nearly  all  lay- 
men dislike  the  Athanasian  Creed.  Most  of 
us  would  like  to  make  some  changes  in 
the  Marriage  Service,  in  the  adulatory  State 
Prayers,  in  the  proper  Preface  for  Whitsunday. 
But  it  is  generally  admitted  that  it  would  be 
unreasonable  to  leave  the  Church  of  England 
on  account  of  such  differences  as  these ;  such 
a  degree  of  discrepancy  between  private  feeling 
and  official  profession  is  no  greater  than  in  a 
Church  with  no  liturgy  and  no  doctrinal  stand- 
ards there  must  constantly  and  habitually  be 
between  the  language  of  the  minister's  extem- 
pore prayer  or  the  hymn  of  his  choosing  and 
the  private  feelings  and  beliefs  of  the  worship- 
per.   But  it  is  clear  that  no  man  can  profitably 


104  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

minister  in  a  Church  in  which  there  is  not  a 
large  body  of  common  belief,  feeling,  and 
aspiration  between  himself  and  the  religious 
community — at  least,  some  considerable  part 
of  the  community — whose  devotions  he  leads, 
whom  he  instructs  from  the  pulpit,  whose 
moral  and  religious  life  he  endeavours  to 
stimulate  and  to  guide. 

What  are  the  limits  of  permissible  or  desir- 
able latitude  of  belief  among  the  clergy,  it 
is  difficult  to  define  with  any  exactitude. 
Opinions  change  from  day  to  day :  opinions 
which  twenty  years  ago  would  have  caused  a 
clergyman  to  be  looked  upon  as  an  extreme 
Broad  Churchman  are  now  regarded  as  com- 
patible not  merely  with  high  office  in  the 
Church,  but  with  a  high  repute  for  orthodoxy. 
It  is  well  known  that  some  years  ago  Bishop 
Wilberforce  nearly  refused  to  ordain,  on 
account  of  his  views  about  the  Old  Testament, 
a  fellow  of  a  College,  who  is  now  universally 
respected  as  a  "  moderate "  Theologian.  A 
decade  or  so  later  another  young  fellow  of  a 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  105 


college  had  an  equally  near  escape  from  re- 
jection under  Wilberforce's  successor :  he  is 
now  the  most  influential  High  Church  Bishop 
of  our  day.  So  little  is  it  possible  to  foresee 
the  theological  future.  I  do  not  think  it 
possible  to  define  with  accuracy  the  exact 
beliefs  which  qualify  or  disqualify  for  the 
ministry  of  the  Church  of  England  :  so 
much  depends  upon  the  tone  of  thought 
and  feeling.  The  responsibility  must  rest 
with  the  individual  who  applies  for  orders,  and 
with  the  individual  Bishop  who  ordains.  Of 
two  men  who  hold  substantially  the  same 
opinions  one  may  feel  himself  essentially  in 
sympathy  with  the  Church  of  England,  may 
delight  in  its  services,  may  believe  in  its  future, 
and  be  happy  and  useful  in  its  ministry ;  while 
another  may  be  so  much  irritated  and  estranged 
by  the  dominance  not  so  much  of  mere  ignor- 
ance and  bigotry  as  of  a  petty  and  fussy 
ecclesiasticism  among  the  clergy  that  he  will 
be  happier  and  more  useful  in  some  other  pro- 
fession or  some  other  ministry.    I  do  not  think 


106  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


it  possible  to  lay  down  any  definite,  hard  and 
fast  rule :  but  for  fear  of  misunderstanding, 
I  would  say  that  I  do  not  myself  wish  to  see 
the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  England  made 
accessible  to  persons  who  do  not  believe  in 
Theism  and  human  immortality,  and  who  do 
not  recognise  the  unique  and  paramount  char- 
acter of  the  Christian  revelation  in  a  sense 
which  makes  it  possible  for  them,  without 
a  feeling  of  unreality,  to  use  the  ordinary 
language  of  the  Church  about  the  Divinity 
of  our  Lord.  But  I  am  quite  aware  that  such 
definitions  as  these  are  no  less  patient  of 
many  interpretations  than  the  actual  phrases  of 
the  Creeds  or  Articles.  There  are,  for  instance, 
theologians  enjoying  a  high  reputation  for 
Orthodoxy  whose  creed  seems  to  me  to 
approximate  to  Pantheism  rather  than  to 
Theism :  but  I  have  no  desire  to  exclude  such 
persons  from  the  ministry  of  the  Church  so 
long  as  they  do  not  feel,  as  I  personally  do 
feel,  the  incompatibility  between  the  language 
which  they  use  in  their  speculative  moments 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  107 

and  the  language  which  ordinary  Christians 
and  Theists  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using 
towards  and  about  God.  The  varieties  of 
individual  thought  and  feeling  are  so  infinite 
that  hard  and  fast  definitions  are  impossible : 

ev  Ttj  aladtjcrei  >/  Kplcrn. 

1  may  add  that  the  latitude  already  recog- 
nised by  the  courts  seems  fully  to  warrant  all 
the  toleration  for  which  I  contend  :  and  those 
who  most  strenuously  insist  upon  comparing 
clerical  subscription  to  a  commercial  contract 
by  which  a  man  pledges  himself  to  teach 
certain  dogmas  in  return  for  a  certain  salary, 
must  admit  the  authority  of  the  courts  to 
determine  what  that  contract  means.  1  will 
say  nothing  of  the  judgement  in  the  Gorham 
case,  which  allowed  the  denial  of  "  Baptismal 
regeneration,"  and  in  the  Bennett  case,  which 
tolerated  language  about  the  "  real  Presence  " 
equally  inconsistent  with  the  obvious  and  prima 
facie  meaning  of  various  statements  in  the 
Prayer  Book  and  Articles.  I  will  only  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  case  of  Dr 


108  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Rowland  Williams  and  Henry  Bristow  Wilson 
it  was  decided  that  it  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  teaching  of  the  Church  of  England  : 

( 1 )  To  deny  that  all  parts  of  the  Bible  are 

inspired ;  to  deny  that  the  Bible  as 
a  whole  is  the  word  of  God,  or  to 
speak  of  Holy  Scriptures  as  "an 
expression  of  devout  reason"  or  as  "the 
written  voice  of  the  congregation,"  or 
to  maintain  that  the  writers  of  the  Old 
Testament  were  fallible. 

(2)  To  speak  of  the  idea  of  "  merit  by  trans- 

fer "  as  a  fiction  and  to  hold  that  justi- 
fication by  faith  means  "  the  peace  of 
mind  or  sense  of  Divine  approval  which 
comes  of  trust  in  a  righteous  God." 

(3)  To  express  a  hope  that  the  punishment 

of  the  wicked  is  not  everlasting. 
The  principles  of  interpretations  which  can 
reconcile  these  doctrines  with  the  plain  language 
of  the  Ordinal,  of  the  Articles,  and  of  the 
Athanasian  Creed,  are  principles  under  which, 
if  logically  and  impartially  applied,  no  Liberal 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  109 


for  whose  presence  among  the  clergy  of  the 
Church  this  essay  is  an  apology  need  fear  con- 
demnation. And  it  is  only  by  such  principles 
of  interpretation,  and  by  acknowledging  the 
authority  of  the  tribunal  which  acts  upon 
them,  that  any  decided  High  Churchman  or 
any  decided  Evangelical  can  justify  his  position 
in  the  Church  of  England  after  the  distinctive 
tenets  of  each  had  been  condemned  by  the 
ecclesiastical  judge. 

(iii.)  So  far,  I  have  merely  pleaded  for  tolera- 
tion of  the  opinions  commonly  called  "  liberal  " 
in  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  England. 
But,  it  may  be  asked,  what  are  the  prospects 
of  Liberal  Theology  in  that  Church  ?  The 
widest  and  truest  sense  of  the  term,  Liberal- 
ism, as  I  understand  it,  expresses  a  general 
attitude  of  mind  towards  theology  rather 
than  a  definite  set  of  opinions.  It  repre- 
sents the  attitude  of  those  who  are  anxious 
that  religious  knowledge  and  religious  ideas 
shall  keep  pace  with  the  advance  of  other 
kinds  of  knowledge,  and  who  recognise  that 


110  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

large  re-interpretations,  restatements — nay,  re- 
constructions— of  theological  belief  are  neces- 
sary if  Christian  belief  is  to  be  placed  in 
harmony  with  the  results  of  modern  science, 
modern  criticism,  and  modern  philosophy. 
No  doubt,  when  the  matter  is  put  in  that  way, 
it  may  well  be  suggested  that  in  that  sense  we 
are  all  Liberals  now — all  educated  and  reflect- 
ing persons  at  least.  That  such  is  the  case 
is,  indeed,  just  what  I  want  to  contend.  But 
for  my  present  purpose  it  is  impossible  to 
avoid  using  the  term  as  the  designation  of  a 
particular  school  of  opinion.  By  Liberalism 
in  the  more  distinctive  or  party  sense  I  mean 
simply  the  view  of  those  who  go  somewhat 
beyond  average  clerical  opinion  in  their  de- 
mand for  this  kind  of  re-construction.  What, 
then,  are  the  prospects  of  Liberalism,  so 
understood,  in  the  Church  of  England ;  or 
rather  (since  my  subject  is  Clerical  Liberalism) 
what  are  the  prospects  of  its  growing  and 
prevailing  among  the  clergy  of  that  Church  ? 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  advance 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM 


111 


of  liberal  opinions  goes  on  with  rapid  strides. 
Critical  opinions  about  the  Bible  are  spreading 
among  those  of  the  younger  clergy — I  am 
afraid  they  are  hardly  the  majority — who  read 
and  think  at  all  seriously.  The  Old  Testament 
has  almost  ceased  to  be  even  a  difficulty.  Any 
critical  opinion  about  the  authorship,  the  date,  or 
even  the  historicity  of  its  books  expressed  with 
moderation  and  reverence,  may  be  privately 
or  publicly  avowed  without  much  obloquy — 
almost  anywhere  but  in  the  pulpit.  It  is  even 
permissible — in  most,  if  not  all,  clerical  circles — 
to  express  great  deference  for  Biblical  Criticism 
in  general.  Nor  is  it  definitely  denied  that  the 
methods  which  have  proved  so  successful  in 
unravelling  the  problem  of  the  Old  Testament 
may  legitimately  be  applied  to  the  New.  And 
even  when  we  come  to  particular  results  of 
criticism,  progress  is  being  made.  The  com- 
posite character  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels — the 
existence  of  different  strata  in  their  narrative — 
is  never  denied ;  in  short,  the  critical  and  his- 
torical way  of  looking  at  the  Gospels  is  spread- 


112  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


ing.  The  Johannine  authorship  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel  is  more  and  more  being  treated  as  an 
open  question.  Ideas  of  this  kind  grow  apace. 
1725  of  the  clergy  recently  signed  a  de- 
claration which  expressed  the  "  desire  that, 
as  many  of  the  clergy  have  already,  with 
advantage  to  Christian  faith  and  with  a 
general  assent  on  the  part  of  their  rulers, 
welcomed  important  results  of  a  patient, 
reverent,  and  progressive  criticism  of  the  Old 
Testament,  so  the  clergy,  as  Christian  teachers, 
may  now  receive  authoritative  encouragement 
to  face  the  critical  problems  of  the  New 
Testament  with  entire  candour."  That  de- 
claration would  doubtless  have  been  signed 
by  thousands  more  but  for  the  industriously 
propagated  suggestion  that  the  declaration 
really  meant  more  than  its  actual  words 
conveyed.  But,  for  all  this,  I  am  far  from 
looking  at  the  present  intellectual  tone  of 
the  Church  of  England  with  any  approach  to 
optimism.  Only  to  a  very  small  extent  is  the 
change  of  attitude  in  the  clergy  revealed  in 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  113 

their  pulpit  teaching.  The  laity  know  what 
the  clergy  preach ;  they  do  not  know  what 
they  think.  And  what  is  preached  more  and 
more  fails  to  appeal  to  the  lay  mind.  The 
alienation  in  thought  and  feeling  between  laity 
and  clergy  advances  more  rapidly  than  the 
education  and  enlightenment  of  the  clergy. 
Moreover,  though  criticism  may  be  in  a  general 
way  tolerated  or  even  approved,  the  line  is  very 
sharply  drawn,  the  moment  criticism  threatens 
to  conflict  with  established  dogmas.  There  is, 
indeed,  a  much  larger  number  of  decided 
Liberals  among  the  clergy  than  is  commonly 
suspected.  They  number  hundreds,  if  not 
thousands ;  and  their  number  grows  daily. 
Even  the  majority  are  becoming  more  and  more 
critical,  or  at  best  tolerant  of  criticism.  But 
after  all,  the  dominant  tone  of  clerical  opinion 
compounds  for  liberality  (or  at  least  silence  and 
vagueness)  about  critical  questions  by  increased 
and  exaggerated  emphasis  upon  the  creeds — 
the  creeds  interpreted  in  a  literal  and  tra- 
ditional manner — and  also  upon  a  body  of 

8 


114 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


sacramental  and  sacerdotal  dogma  which  is  not 
to  be  found  in  any  of  the  Church's  formula?. 
Even  where  there  is  some  considerable  liber- 
ality of  thought,  a  sacerdotal  tone  remains, 
which  repels  the  average  layman  far  more  than 
critical  or  doctrinal  narrowness.  Occasionally 
one  discovers  men  of  very  advanced  liberal 
views  who  retain  the  practices  and  much  of 
the  language  of  thorough -going  Ritualism.  I 
am  not  without  sympathy  for  the  position 
of  men  who  have  outlived  their  earlier  creed 
without  having  lost  the  aesthetic  tastes  which 
were  once  associated  with  it ;  but  I  strongly 
feel  that  the  very  last  way  to  restore  the 
harmony  between  lay  and  clerical  feeling 
which  the  Oxford  Movement  destroyed  is  by 
attempting  to  combine  a  secret  and  esoteric 
Rationalism  or  a  sceptical  "Pragmatism" 
with  the  externals  of  a  Sacerdotalism  whose 
intellectual  basis  has  really  been  abandoned. 
The  influence  of  the  continental  Modernists 
is  already  beginning  powerfully  to  affect 
our  younger  High  Churchmen  ;  but  if  they 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  115 


want  to  command  the  intellectual  respect 
accorded  to  M.  Loisy  and  his  associates,  they 
must  imitate  them  in  avoiding  an  exaggerated 
stress  upon  the  externals  of  Religion.  Many 
rites  and  usages  which  are  tolerable  enough 
where  they  have  long  been  a  matter  of  course, 
become  incompatible  with  genuine  Liberalism 
and  injurious  to  spiritual  Religion  when  forced 
by  individual  clergymen  upon  a  community 
which  deliberately  rejected  them  three  cen- 
turies ago.  No  doubt  many  of  the  changes 
introduced  by  the  Oxford  Movement  into 
Anglican  worship  are  now  generally  accepted  ; 
but  the  forcing  of  unaccustomed  and  illegal 
ritual  upon  unwilling  congregations  can  only 
be  justified  by  a  view  of  the  Church  and  its 
authority  which  is  impossible  to  one  who  has 
absorbed  anything  of  the  spirit  of  M.  Loisy  or 
the  Italian  Modernists. 

The  worst  feature  in  the  outlook  is  the 
decline  in  the  supply  of  able  candidates  for 
orders.  The  scanty  supply  of  well-educated 
and  broad-minded   clergymen   is  the  chief 


116  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


obstacle  to  the  growth  of  devout  and  reason- 
able religious  Liberalism  among  the  laity. 
The  decline  of  Church-going  among  educated 
laymen  and  the  unwillingness  of  educated  men 
to  take  orders  advance  together :  they  act  and 
react  upon  one  another.  Men  will  not  go  to 
Church  to  hear  views  about  the  damnation 
of  heretics,1  about  the  Fall,  about  the  Atone- 
ment, about  Absolution  and  Sacraments  which 
they  have  ceased  to  believe ;  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  listen  to  discourses  so  moderate  that  it 
is  impossible  to  discover  what  the  preacher 
really  thinks  about  just  the  questions  which 
interest  thoughtful  people.  Clerical  vocations 
seldom  emerge  out  of  families  in  which  the 
father  and   mother  have   ceased   to  attend 

1  I  have  just  come  back  from  hearing  in  an  Oxford 
Church  a  sermon  by  a  very  young  man  in  which  it  was 
clearly  taught  that  "  Arms,  Socinus,  and  all  the  wretched 
heretics  of  the  present  day  "  would  be  damned  everlastingly. 
That  is  the  sort  of  thing  which  is  emptying  the  Churches. 
The  sermon  disclosed  amazing  ignorance  of  the  simplest 
critical  facts,  and  not  one  single  spark  of  Christian  Charity 
or  even  of  religious  feeling.  I  mention  this  trifling  fact 
lest  it  should  be  said  that  teaching  of  this  type  is  quite 
obsolete.    It  is  happily  obsolescent. 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  117 

Church,  and  in  which  the  clergy  are  never 
mentioned  with  intellectual  respect. 

But  nothing  is  more  useless  than  mere 
lamentation  over  the  decline  of  rational 
Religion.  Enough  has  been  said,  perhaps,  to 
suggest  to  those  whom  the  vast  practical 
activities  of  the  ecclesiastical  machine  do  not 
blind  to  the  plain  facts  of  the  case  that  we  are 
approaching,  if  we  have  not  reached,  an  intel- 
lectual crisis  precisely  similar  to  that  which 
is  going  on  upon  the  continent.  The  most 
cheering  event  of  our  times  has  been  the 
growth  of  a  liberal  religious  movement — pro- 
foundly religious  as  well  as  liberal — among  the 
clergy  of  France  and  Italy.  The  Papacy  has 
done  what  it  could  to  crush  that  movement. 
Our  ecclesiastical  rulers  do  not  possess  similar 
powers  of  repression  :  but  they  are  very  power- 
ful notwithstanding,  and  we  have  a  right  to 
look  to  them  not  merely  for  abstinence  from 
such  manifestos  as  the  recent  Encyclical,  but 
for  some  positive  help  in  the  task  of  theo- 
logical reconstruction.    In  trying  to  answer 


118  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


the  question  "  What  can  be  done  ? I  am 
thinking  especially  of  the  things  which  seem 
to  require  combined  and  corporate  effort,  and 
which  most  distinctly  demand  the  leadership 
and  assistance  of  the  Bishops  and  other  highly 
placed  ecclesiastics.  If  the  kind  of  theological 
reconstruction  of  which  1  am  thinking  neces- 
sarily involved  the  holding  of  what  are  com- 
monly considered  advanced  liberal  opinions,  it 
would,  of  course,  be  useless  to  look  to  the 
present  episcopal  bench  for  help  ;  but  the  sort 
of  obsolete  teaching  of  which  we  most  want 
to  get  rid  is  teaching  in  which  few  of  our 
Bishops  really  believe.  For  our  immediate 
purpose,  at  least  a  third  of  the  Bishops  may 
be  regarded  as  Liberals,  and  a  much  larger 
number  are  sufficiently  in  touch  with  the  spirit 
of  their  age  to  be  quite  capable  of  appreciating 
the  importance  of  encouraging  among  the 
clergy  a  more  open-minded  attitude  towards 
what  may  be  conveniently  called  modern 
thought  than  is  at  present  at  all  common.  I 
want,  in  the  few  pages  which  remain  to  me,  to 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  119 


suggest  what  they  might  do  to  counteract  that 
alienation  of  educated  laymen  from  the  Church 
which  is  endangering  the  very  existence  of 
Christianity  among  us. 

(1)  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  expect  great 
results  of  any  kind  from  monster  Assemblies 
of  Bishops.  Even  among  those  who  believe 
in  the  infallibility  of  such  Assemblies,  the  more 
authoritative  and  the  more  intelligent  opinion 
attaches  little  weight  to  mere  numbers :  it  is 
only  a  "  morally  unanimous  "  vote  that  carries 
weight.  In  such  Assemblies  weight  and 
numbers  rarely  go  together.  All  the  learning 
and  the  ability  of  the  Roman  Church  were 
against  the  decree  of  Papal  Infallibility,  but  it 
was  carried  nevertheless  by  the  numerical  pre- 
ponderance of  the  Bishops  who  presided  over 
tiny  dioceses  in  Italy  or  larger  areas  in  still 
more  backward  regions.  The  power  of  such 
Assemblies  for  good  is  small :  their  power  for 
evil  is  large.  In  the  present  state  of  opinion, 
the  most  that  can  be  hoped  for  is  that  there 
will  be  no  pronouncements  tending  to  the 


120  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


narrowing  of  our  Church,  no  putting  back  the 
hands  of  the  theological  clock.  With  the 
spectacle  of  the  Papal  Encyclical  before  their 
eyes — the  dismay  it  has  produced  among  in- 
telligent Romanists  and  the  open  delight  it 
has  occasioned  to  the  avowed  enemies  of  all 
Christianity — it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  more 
liberal  and  learned  minority  of  the  Anglican 
Episcopate  may  at  least  have  influence  enough 
to  stop  reactionary  pronouncements.  Could 
there  not  even  be  carried  some  very  moderate 
and  general  declaration  in  favour  of  sober  and 
honest  criticism,  some  repudiation  of  obsolete 
and  literalist  "  theories  of  inspiration  "  ?  Such 
a  declaration  would  be  of  value  both  in  defend- 
ing clergymen — I  am  not  thinking  merely  of 
advanced  "  Liberals,"  but  of  all  who  accept 
any  of  the  critical  results  at  all — from  charges 
of  dishonesty,  and  of  convincing  "the  plain 
man "  that,  when  an  individual  clergyman 
assures  him  that  the  acceptance  of  such  and 
such  a  position  is  compatible  with  Christianity 
and   Churchmanship,   he   is   not  expressing 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  121 

merely  a  private  opinion,  but  one  generally 
recognised  in  the  Church.  Even  if  such  a 
declaration  were  proposed  and  supported  by  a 
considerable  minority  of  the  Bishops,  it  would 
be  a  valuable  note  of  progress  to  set  off  against 
the  calamitous  defiance  of  all  modern  thought 
by  the  Pope,  and  the  silent,  if  unwilling, 
acquiescence  of  the  Roman  Episcopate.  The 
general  public  know  enough  of  the  way 
Bishops  are  made  to  be  aware  that  the  prelates 
whose  opinions  on  such  matters  really  count 
are  usually  a  minority. 

(2)  But  it  is  chiefly  as  individuals  that  the 
more  liberal  Bishops  can  help  those  who  are 
struggling  to  emancipate  the  Church  from  the 
dead-weight  of  obsolete  opinion.  The  most 
obvious  way  in  which  they  can  do  this  is  by 
placing  no  difficulties  in  the  way  of  liberal- 
minded  candidates  for  orders.  There  are 
already  many  Bishops  to  whom  we  could  send 
such  men  with  little  fear  of  their  rejection. 
Some  of  the  most  personally  orthodox  prelates 
are,  it  is  right  to  acknowledge,  very  tolerant 


122  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

in  this  and  in  other  ways.  But  something 
more  than  bare  toleration  of  liberal  opinions 
is  wanted  if  the  right  kind  of  men  are  to 
be  encouraged  to  take  orders.  The  general 
feeling  among  the  abler  undergraduates  who 
are  possible  candidates  for  orders  is  that 
the  whole  weight  of  Church  opinion — of  the 
Bishops,  of  the  clergy,  of  all  recognised  organs 
and  representatives  of  Church  opinion — is  dead 
against  the  honest  facing  of  intellectual  diffi- 
culties, against  the  honest  recognition  of  the 
results  of  liberal  criticism  and  modern  thought. 
This  affects  them  in  two  ways.  It  makes  them 
doubt  the  honesty  of  taking  orders,  and  still 
more  it  puts  them  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
whole  institution.  They  cannot  feel  much 
enthusiasm  for  a  Ministry  in  which  they 
will  be  made  to  feel  that  they  are  at  best 
tolerated  outsiders.  When  we  remember  the 
enormous  power  of  calling  attention  to  their 
utterances  which  Bishops  possess — by  preach- 
ing, by  visitation  charges,  by  writing — it  can- 
not be  said  that  they  have  done  much  to  diffuse 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  123 


a  liberal  and  thoughtful  theology  among  the 
laity,  or  to  encourage  the  more  intelligent 
candidates  for  orders.  We  have  at  least  some 
six  or  seven  English  Bishops  whose  theological 
opinions  are  as  liberal  as  those  of  Bishop 
Moorhouse,  who  recently  resigned  the  see 
of  Manchester.  Among  the  present  Arch- 
bishops and  Bishops  there  are  some  to  whom 
Liberals  owe  some  gratitude,  but  hardly  one 
of  them  has  "  spoken  out,"  or  used  his 
influence  to  encourage  liberally  -  minded 
clergymen,  as  he  did.  Too  often,  when  an 
enlightened  and  scholarly  divine  becomes  a 
Bishop,  his  principal  ambition  seems  to  be — 
by  his  appointments,  by  fulminations  about 
"  distinctive  Church  teaching  "  or  "  the  Canon 
Law,"  by  denouncing  little  irregularities  of  a 
non-ritualistic  character,  by  vague  talk  about 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  at  all  events  by 
scrupulous  silence  on  every  question  upon 
which  inquiring  Churchmen  might  naturally 
look  to  him  for  guidance,  to  persuade  his 
clergy— and  particularly  the  ultra-sacerdotalist 


124  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


section  of  them — that  he  (the  Bishop)  is  not 
so  black  as  he  has  been  painted.  The  clergy 
naturally  take  their  cue  from  the  Bishops. 
The  more  reactionary  a  young  clergyman  is, 
the  more  boldly  and  blatantly  he  airs  his  crude 
opinions  about  Confession,  the  Church,  the 
Sacraments.  The  more  intelligent  his  opinions, 
the  more  he  is  tempted  to  take  refuge  in  vague 
platitudes  which  will  offend  no  one. 

(3)  The  real  strength  of  Anti-liberalism  in 
the  Church  is  to  be  found  in  the  theological 
colleges.  It  is  in  the  long  run  the  Seminaries 
that  have  ruined  the  Church  of  Rome.  You 
have  only  to  contrast  the  state  of  clerical 
opinion  (till  recently)  in  Italy  with  its  state  in 
Catholic  Germany,  the  state  of  the  clerical 
mind  in  the  Church  of  England  with  the 
tone  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Churches,  to 
appreciate  the  difference  between  a  theological 
education  in  a  university  and  a  theological 
education  in  a  Seminary.  A  Scotch  candidate 
for  the  ministry  spends  four  years  in  studying 
theology  under  a  variety  of  professors — all 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  125 


men  of  fairly  advanced  years  and  real  learn- 
ing in  some  special  branch  of  theology,  often 
scholars  of  European  reputation.  They  are 
men  of  different  opinions,  some  of  them  prob- 
ably decidedly  liberal,  all  of  them  scholars 
who  approach  the  subject  with  a  desire  for 
intellectual  thoroughness.  In  a  word,  the 
instruction  is  eminently  "  wissenschaftlich." 
An  English  candidate  for  orders  (if  he  be  a 
university  man)  goes  (generally  for  one  year) 
to  a  college  of  twenty  or  thirty  men,  where  a 
Principal  and  one  or  two  other  teachers — the 
latter  often  very  young  men,  chosen  for  ability 
no  doubt,  but  also  for  their  loyalty  to  a  party 
creed — attempt  to  teach  all  branches  of 
theology.  With  the  best  will  in  the  world, 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  communicate  any 
adequate  knowledge  of  scientific  theology,  to 
initiate  men  into  the  spirit  of  theological 
research,  to  lay  any  adequate  basis  for  future 
study  in  one  year,  much  interrupted  (perhaps 
rightly)  by  very  frequent  services,  religious 
addresses,  retreats,  and  devotional  exercises  of 


126  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


various  kinds,  and  by  some  amount  of  practical 
work.  And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  type  of 
theology  taught  at  the  larger  and  more 
popular  theological  colleges  is,  for  the  most 
part,  an  advanced  Sacerdotalism.  I  do  not 
deny  that  sometimes  the  elementary  principles 
and  results  of  criticism  are  taught — probably 
not  without  a  little  "  economy."  But  all 
that  I  have  heard,  and  hear,  of  the  training 
which  these  colleges  supply  suggests  that 
their  atmosphere  is  uncongenial  to  thought,  to 
freedom,  to  inquiry.  They  foster  an  intensely 
ecclesiastical  spirit.  At  best  the  interest  of 
the  men  is  absorbed  by  the  purely  practical 
and  devotional  side  of  Religion :  at  the  worst 
attention  is  concentrated  upon  the  distinctive 
tenets  of  a  strongly  partisan  theology.  Often 
there  is  considerable  pressure  put  upon  the 
student  to  go  to  confession,  and  the  importance 
or  efficacy  of  Priestly  Absolution  is  constantly 
insisted  upon.  They  tend  to  inspire  a  sense 
not  merely  of  the  dignity  and  sacredness 
of  the  clerical   vocation,  but   of  the  vast 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  127 


difference  between  Priest  and  layman.  For 
this  state  of  things  it  is  impossible  not  to  hold 
the  Bishops  partially  responsible.  Most  of  the 
colleges  are  entirely  or  partly  under  episcopal 
control.  Yet  how  often  the  Principal  or 
Vice-principal  whom  a  Bishop  appoints  to  his 
theological  college  is  a  higher  and  narrower 
Churchman  than  himself!  One  or  two  of 
the  more  liberal  Bishops  have  attempted  to 
set  up  small  theological  schools  of  a  more 
moderate  and  reasonable  complexion.  The 
best  results  have  followed  from  these  efforts : 
but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  there  exists  in 
all  England  a  theological  college  in  which 
the  tone  is  as  enlightened,  as  intellectual,  as 
liberal  as  it  is  in  the  seminary  of  a  certain 
modernising  French  Archbishop. 

In  ways  like  these  the  Bishops  might  help 
us.  Of  course  some  of  the  things  I  have  asked 
for  can  only  be  expected  from  those  Bishops 
whose  own  theological  opinions  are  more  de- 
cidedly liberal ;  but  there  are  few  of  their  lord- 
ships who  do  not  more  or  less  appreciate  the 


128 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


value  of  an  intellectually  open  state  of  mind, 
of  the  desire  to  know,  of  the  desire  honestly  to 
face  difficulties.  Let  it  be  remembered  that 
the  repression  of  opinion — the  rejection  of  a 
candidate  for  orders,  the  denunciation  of  some 
clergyman  for  holding  a  certain  opinion,  the 
worrying  of  an  incumbent  into  resignation,  the 
withdrawal  of  a  curate's  licence,  the  passing 
over  of  Liberals  in  the  distribution  of  patron- 
age, the  encouragement  given  to  some  hope- 
lessly ignorant  and  incompetent  piece  of 
apologetics — exercises  a  depressing  and  deter- 
rent effect  which  is  not  confined  to  those  who 
hold  the  particular  view  which  may  be  in 
question.  When  a  thoughtful  undergraduate 
hears  from  a  Bishop  in  the  pulpit  that  a  man 
who  does  not  believe  the  Virgin  Birth  or  the 
personality  of  the  Devil  cannot  be  a  Christian, 
or  at  all  events  a  clergyman,  it  is  not  only  the 
man  who  has  definitely  rejected  those  beliefs, 
but  the  man  who  realises  the  difficulty  of  the 
questions  who  is  discouraged.  He  may  know 
that  the  latter  opinion  involves  philosophical 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  129 

difficulties,  while  the  former  raises  a  host 

of  critical  questions   upon  whi^h  Christian 

scholars  are  divided,  and  he  does  not  know 

what  effect  further  study  (before  or  after  his 

ordination  at  twenty-three)  may  have  upon 

his  mind.    If  he  is  told  that  one  answer  to 

the  question  will  ruin  his  clerical  career,  he 

is  dissuaded  from  thinking  further  of  holy 

orders.     There   are  much   less  "  advanced " 

pieces  of  Liberalism  than  doubts  about  the 

Virgin    Birth   which   induce   men   to  give 

up  the  idea  of  being  ordained,  and  which 

would  have  no   such   effect  if  they  could 

hear  from  a   Bishop — in  public — that  they 

constitute  no  valid  objection  to  ordination ; 

nay,  that  they  are  (as  is  very  likely  the  case) 

shared  by  the  Bishop  himself.    I  have  no 

hesitation  in  saying  that  some  of  the  episcopal 

sermons  we  have  heard  in  Oxford,  however 

excellent  on  the  purely  practical  side,  have 

by  their  intellectual — or  anti-intellectual — tone 

done  much  to  discourage  thoughtful  men  from 

becoming  clergymen.    And,  after  all,  it  is  not 

9 


130 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


only  possible  clergymen  who  have  souls.  The 
thoughtful  layman,  intending  to  remain  a 
layman,  might  often  be  helped  to  remain  a 
Christian  if  he  could  feel  that  those  who 
represent  the  Church  had  got  some  kind  of 
an  answer  to  the  difficulties  which  he  feels. 

And  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  limits 
of  what  can  be  done  for  our  cause  by  persons 
in  authority  are  soon  reached.  It  was  not  by 
episcopal  support  that  the  Oxford  Movement 
won  its  short-lived  influence  among  the 
educated  laity,  or  its  present  ascendancy 
among  the  clergy.  I  do  not  for  a  moment 
suppose — I  am  not  sure  that  I  desire— a 
similar  triumph  for  a  liberal  "party."  The  very 
success  of  a  liberal  party  dooms  it  to  extinction. 
As  soon  as  an  opinion  becomes  common,  it 
ceases  to  be  thought  distinctively  liberal. 
When  they  see  the  extent  to  which  the 
opinions  which  forty  or  even  twenty  years  ago 
were  regarded  as  liberal  almost  beyond  the 
limits  of  toleration  have  already  leavened  the 
Church,  Liberals  need  have  no  fear  as  to  the 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM  131 


continuous  advance  of  clerical  opinion.  That 
in  a  country  like  England — where  (in  spite  of 
theological  colleges,  of  clergy-houses,  and  of 
"religious  orders")  the  clergy  are  in  contact 
with  the  ordinary  currents  of  lay  opinion,  and 
breathe  the  atmosphere  of  free  discussion — 
there  will  ultimately  be  all  the  liberty  we 
want  as  regards  criticism,  and  the  theological 
questions  which  can  be  affected  by  critical 
opinions — of  this  I  have  no  doubt  whatever. 
The  danger  is  that  by  the  time  that  result 
is  accomplished  the  alienation  of  ordinary 
lay  thought  and  feeling  from  the  clergy  and 
"  the  Churches "  will  be  too  complete  to  be 
restored,  and  that  a  better  understanding  may 
still  be  impeded  by  an  ecclesiasticism  of  tone 
and  sentiment  which  will  have  survived  the 
theology  that  gave  it  birth.  If  the  laity  lose 
the  habit  of  Church-going,  able  and  liberal 
sermons  in  the  empty  churches  will  no 
more  restore  it  than  they  do  in  Protestant 
Germany.  If  the  idea  that  the  position  of 
a  clergyman  is  a  suitable  one  for  men  who 


132  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


might  attain  high  success  in  other  profes- 
sions once  disappears,  the  Bishops  of  the 
future  will  appeal  in  vain  for  such  candidates. 
Able  men  will  not  care  to  adopt  a  calling 
which  has  lost  its  influence.  If  these  results 
are  to  be  averted,  there  must  be  more  boldness, 
more  effort,  and  a  more  missionary  spirit  among 
us.  If  everyone  would  really  teach  up  to  the 
level  of  his  own  knowledge  and  conviction,  the 
battle  would  be  won.  There  must  be  more 
co-operation  between  the  more  moderate  and 
the  more  advanced  Liberals.  We  must  not  be 
eager  to  accuse  of  heresy  those  who  go  a  little 
further  than  ourselves,  or  to  disparage  as 
narrow  and  illiberal  those  who  do  not  go  so  far. 
It  is  the  simplest  and  most  universally  ad- 
mitted liberal  principles  that  most  want 
teaching  and  propagating.  On  the  negative 
side  it  is  the  most  universally  abandoned 
positions  that  most  want  disclaiming.  On  the 
positive  side  it  is  the  most  essential  truths  of 
Theism  and  the  Christian  revelation  that 
should  fill  the  largest  place  in  our  teaching. 


CLERICAL  LIBERALISM 


133 


The  eventual  triumph  of  Liberalism — on  its 
destructive  side — in  the  world  at  large  is 
certain:  the  triumph  of  Liberal  Christianity, 
or  even  Liberal  Religion,  is,  alas !  not  so  well 
assured.  Liberalism  will  triumph,  whether  the 
clergy  become  liberal  or  not.  That  any  form 
of  Religion  can  exercise  a  wide  influence 
without  a  clergy  to  teach  it,  history  supplies 
us  with  no  reason  for  supposing.  Liberal 
Religion  cannot  prevail  without  a  liberal 
clergy.    "  Like  Priest,  like  People." 

What  changes  we  ought  to  agitate  for  in  the 
formulas  or  organisation  of  the  Church  it  hardly 
belongs  to  this  article  to  consider.  The  dis- 
crepancy between  real  opinion  and  apparent 
profession,  the  inevitableness  of  which  I  have 
admitted,  is  not  a  good  thing  in  itself.  We 
ought  to  try  and  diminish  it.  For  the  imme- 
diate present,  I  suggest  that  our  objects  should 
be — the  optional  use  of  the  Athanasian  Creed  ; 
the  substitution  of  a  promise  to  use  the  Prayer 
Book  for  the  declaration  of  assent ;  the  substitu- 
tion in  the  Ordinal  of  the  milder  answer  about 


134  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


the  Bible  required  of  priests  for  the  stronger 
one  demanded  of  deacons ;  the  removal  of  a 
few  admittedly  obsolete  forms  and  expressions 
from  the  Prayer  Book.  We  shall  not  get  even 
these  things  in  a  day.  But  the  agitation  for 
them  will  do  good.  The  time  may  come 
when  the  proposal  to  substitute  the  original 
Nicene  Creed  (in  which  the  clauses  that  most 
trouble  conscience  are  absent)  for  the  present 
Constantinopolitan  formula  may  receive  a  re- 
spectful hearing  ;  but  that  day  is  not  to-day. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  to-morrow. 


LAY  LIBERALISM 

BY 

Professor  PERCY  GARDNER 

The  layman  who  writes  as  a  liberal  in  Church 
matters  represents  an  immense  constituency. 
Liberal  clergymen  are  in  a  minority,  though 
by  no  means  in  a  contemptible  minority,  among 
their  brethren.  But  it  is  safe  to  say  that  at 
all  events  among  lay  churchmen  who  have 
been  to  a  good  school  and  who  read  something 
beside  the  newspaper,  the  great  majority  are 
in  some  sense  liberal.  In  some  sense  is 
emphatic  ;  because  liberalism  may  take  many 
forms,  good  and  bad.  Too  often  it  takes  the 
form  of  indifference,  or  of  carping  criticism  : 
this  is  the  Charybdis  into  which  those  who 
avoid  the  Scylla  of  ecclesiasticism  often  fall.  I 
have  no  claim  to  represent  the  ecclesiastically- 

135 


136  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


minded  layman,  and  I  have  no  wish  to  repre- 
sent the  indifferent  layman.  But  I  intend  to 
try  to  represent  the  point  of  view  of  the  lay- 
man to  whom  religion  is  a  reality,  not  the 
whole  of  life,  but  its  noblest  and  most  ideal 
side,  who  thinks  of  his  church  with  a  stir  of 
emotion,  and  realises  how  poverty-stricken  his 
life  would  be  without  it,  who  is  determined 
that  his  children  shall  enjoy  the  religious  privi- 
leges which  he  has  himself  enjoyed,  who  feels, 
as  he  grows  elderly,  a  constantly  increasing 
tendency  to  lean  upon  the  common  life  of  the 
Church,  and  to  face  the  problems  of  our  time 
in  the  Anglican  ranks. 

i. 

But  is  not  this  the  attitude  of  conservatism  ? 
Does  any  large  number  of  the  faithful  laity 
desire  far- going  reforms  ?  Are  churchmen  not 
content  to  remain  as  they  are  ?  It  seems  to 
me  strange  that  these  questions  should  even 
be  put.  On  whichever  side  we  look,  we  see 
great  changes  going  on,  and  still  greater  up- 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


137 


heavals  threatening.  In  politics  the  state  of 
matters  is  very  unstable.  A  secularist  socialist 
party  is  growing  stronger  and  stronger.  We 
see  the  utmost  unrest  among  the  nations  of 
the  Continent,  and  Asia  is  growing  every  year 
more  impatient  of  European  predominance. 
And  in  religion  everything  seems  in  a  flux  ; 
manners  changing,  Sunday  observance  dying 
down,  vast  masses  of  the  people  becoming 
mere  indifferent  spectators  of  the  life  of  religion, 
secularism  invading  the  school,  and  parents 
throwing  aside  all  responsibility  for  the  religious 
training  of  their  children.  No  one  who  really 
considers  the  signs  of  the  times  can  cherish  a 
light  heart  as  regards  the  future  of  the  Church  ; 
while  to  those  who  are  naturally  unhopeful 
the  days  may  well  seem  like  those  days  before 
the  Flood,  when  men  ate  and  drank  and 
married,  until  the  heavy  hand  of  God  fell  on 
them  suddenly. 

We  see  the  forces  of  dissolution  working 
everywhere  ;  and  we  see  the  forces  of  con- 
servatism gathered  together  against  them  ;  and 


138  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


in  some  places — in  Russia,  in  politics ;  at  Rome, 
in  religion  —  for  the  time,  triumphant  and 
determined  to  crush  the  enemy.  Few  times 
have  there  been  when  to  advocate  moderate 
and  reasonable  reforms  would  seem  so  hopeless. 
Yet  it  is  moderate  and  reasonable  reforms 
which  we  of  the  English  Church  are  bound  to 
advocate.  The  English  nation  is  one  of  the 
most  conservative  and  slow  -  moving  of  all 
nations.  And  the  English  Church  is,  by  the 
facts  of  its  origin  and  history,  strongly  asso- 
ciated with  this  side  of  the  national  character. 
One  may  fairly  say  that  the  cause  of  moder- 
ation is  the  cause  of  our  Church,  that  the  via 
media  is  the  only  way  open  to  her.  If  so,  then 
surely  for  us  of  all  people  there  is  a  necessity 
for  consideration  of  moderate  reforms  which 
may  make  the  Church  better  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  new  time. 

It  is  saddening  to  see  to  what  matters  many 
of  our  most  attached  and  earnest  members 
give  the  talents  which  should  lead  us  in  the 
ways  of  adaptation  to  the  age.    Many  of  them 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


139 


are  constantly  discussing  the  possibility  of 
reunion,  and  making  absurd  advances  to  the 
Roman  or  the  Greek  Churches,  which  meet 
with  no  response.  The  fact  is  that  at  present 
reunion  would  mean  the  abandonment  of 
causes  for  which  our  ancestors  have  lived  and 
died  during  four  centuries.  Others  are  taken 
up  with  questions  about  the  use  of  vestments 
or  of  incense,  or  the  reservation  of  the  Sacra- 
ment. An  Anglican  Bishop  has  just  pub- 
lished a  book  discussing  the  five  species  or 
stages  of  elevation  in  the  Eucharist,  and  ex- 
amining the  question  which  of  them  are  primi- 
tive or  permissible.  Others  vehemently  object 
even  to  the  least  modification  of  the  Athanasian 
Creed,  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  the  presence 
of  the  creed  in  the  service  keeps  multitudes 
of  English  churchmen  (however  unreasonably) 
away  from  church  at  many  of  the  festivals. 
It  is  quite  useless  to  discuss  the  question  of 
reform  in  the  Church  of  England,  unless  we 
may  assume,  in  the  first  place,  that  reform  is 
desirable  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  that  reform 


140  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


should  be  in  the  direction  of  bringing  the 
Church  nearer  to  the  best  religious  life  of  the 
people,  not  in  the  direction  of  some  fancied 
approximation  to  primitive  usage  or  the  for- 
mulae of  the  sixteenth  century. 

After  all,  the  more  we  consider  the  position 
of  other  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  the 
more  we  shall  realise  our  inestimable  advan- 
tages. On  one  side  we  see  the  Roman  Church, 
with  its  newly  -  revived  inquisition  and  its 
avowed  determination  to  put  an  end  to  all 
liberty  of  thought.  On  the  other  side  we  see 
the  smaller  Protestant  churches  drifting 
hither  and  thither,  and  welcoming  the  wildest 
aberrations  in  thought  and  practice.  We 
cling  the  more  closely  to  our  Church,  and  feel 
the  enormous  advantages  it  can  claim.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  free  and  comprehensive,  allow- 
ing wide  latitude  of  views  even  to  the  clergy, 
so  that  a  pastor  who  is  really  useful  and  de- 
voted will  seldom  be  called  in  question  for 
any  breadth  of  opinion,  or  for  any  views  as  to 
ritual,  unless  he  is  intolerant  of  the  differing 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


141 


views  of  others.  In  the  second  place,  it  is 
national,  representing  the  English  race  on  its 
most  characteristic  side, — a  slow-minded  race, 
with  a  strong  belief  in  truth  and  righteousness, 
not  given  to  the  pursuit  of  distant  ideals,  but 
eager  to  do  what  is  right  under  the  present 
circumstances  ;  a  race  accessible  to  literature 
and  poetry,  but  without  much  feeling  for  art ; 
a  tolerant,  quiet,  and  manly  people,  with  a 
faculty  for  command.  In  the  third  place,  it 
lies  close  to  the  facts  of  personal  religion,  in- 
terposing no  sacerdotal  class  between  the  souls 
of  men  and  God,  but  trying  to  bring  the 
worshipper  and  the  Worshipped  into  close 
relations.  In  all  its  services  such  great  spiritual 
realities  as  sin  and  pardon,  atonement  and  holi- 
ness, the  desire  of  a  better  life  and  cravings  for 
divine  aid,  are  made  the  main  theme.  It  fully 
realises  that  the  Church  can  only  provide  the 
opportunity  ;  the  real  work  of  salvation  lies 
between  the  soul  and  its  Maker.  And,  in  the 
fourth  place,  it  has  historic  justification  ;  it  is  a 
great  stem  of  the  Christian  tree,  drawing  sap 


142  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


from  the  roots,  connected  by  a  never  broken 
tradition  with  the  early  history  of  Christianity, 
a  reservoir  to  contain  all  that  the  merits  of 
saints  and  heroes  in  the  past  have  contributed 
to  the  richness  of  spiritual  life  in  our  later 
days. 

I  have  said  that  reform  must  lie  in  the 
direction  not  of  any  fancied  return  to  authori- 
tative usage,  but  in  the  direction  of  giving 
wider  scope  to  the  best  spiritual  forces  of  the 
age.  If  I  may  be  allowed,  without  arrogance, 
to  criticise  from  this  point  of  view  the  line 
taken  by  far  better  men  than  myself,  I  will 
venture  to  say  that  I  regard  as  foredoomed  to 
failure  the  attempts  of  some  excellent  men 
among  the  clergy  to  attract  the  people  by  im- 
posing ritual  and  elaborate  symbolism.  The 
Englishman  is  scarcely  to  be  approached  from 
that  side.  I  do  not  say  it  in  praise  of  the 
national  tendencies,  rather  in  dispraise ;  but, 
as  an  archaeologist,  I  have  long  discovered 
that  as  a  nation  we  are  singularly  devoid  of 
feeling  for  art  and  ceremony.    From  the  Eton 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


143 


boy  to  the  intelligent  artisan  we  have  a  certain 
contempt  for  "  flummery  "  ;  and  we  must  be 
approached  through  the  intelligence.  Hence  no 
line  of  action  could  be  worse  adapted  to  its 
environment  than  the  tendency  among  High 
Church  clergy  to  depreciate  preaching  and 
make  everything  of  sacraments,  to  substitute 
symbolism  for  discussion.  None  of  our  bishops 
is  more  practical  than  the  Bishop  of  Stepney, 
who  in  a  recent  work1  earnestly  advocates 
appeals  to  the  people  by  means  of  sermons 
and  addresses  and  every  kind  of  discourse. 
This  seems  to  me  the  only  hopeful  way  of 
approaching  them.  We  may  appeal  to  the 
parallel  case  of  University  Extension.  It  is 
proved  by  a  long  experience  that  the  English 
working  classes  are  thoroughly  accessible  to 
every  teacher  in  secular  matters  who  can  prove 
to  them  that  he  is  an  authority  in  his  subject. 
The  extension  lecturers  gain  an  influence,  both 
wide  and  deep,  and  are  readily  listened  to  in 
such  matters  as  ethics  and  social  organisation. 

1  The  Opportunity  of  the  Church  of  England. 


144  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Nor  have  their  auditors  any  prejudice  against 
authority :  the  fact  that  the  teachers  are 
authorised  and  recognised  by  a  great  Uni- 
versity lies  at  the  root  of  the  trust  imposed 
in  them  by  the  Trades  Unions  and  other 
such  bodies.  Surely  these  things  are  a 
parable. 

Nothing  could  show  more  clearly  how  far 
the  sacramentalist  clergy  have  drifted  from 
contact  with  present  needs  and  existing  cir- 
cumstances than  the  indifference  which  they 
have  generally  shown  to  the  rapidly  progressing 
secularisation  of  the  Sunday.  Now,  whatever 
may  be  the  case  in  past  ages  and  in  other 
countries,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  owing  to 
historic  reasons,  the  Sunday  as  an  institution 
is  the  foundation-stone  of  religion  in  England 
and  Scotland.  If  it  goes,  there  is  nothing 
which  can  ever  take  its  place.  This,  not  ritual 
or  vestments,  is  the  test  stantis  aut  cadentis 
ecclesice.  But  until  lately,  at  all  events, 
there  has  been  a  tendency  among  a  school  of 
clergy  almost  to  sympathise  with  the  con- 


LAY  LIBERALISM  145 

stantly-growing  custom  of  the  people  to  make 
Sunday  a  mere  day  of  amusement. 

Let  us,  however,  assume  that  some  reforms 
of  the  kind  I  have  tried  to  indicate  are  de- 
sirable. What  are  the  matters  ecclesiastic  in 
which  laymen  are  most  concerned  ?  I  think 
them  to  be  two  :  first  the  Prayer  Book  and 
church  services  ;  secondly,  social  work.  Let 
us  briefly  consider  each  of  these,  trying  to  dis- 
cern in  each  a  course  of  reform  at  once  liberal, 
and  faithful  to  the  spirit  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

ii. 

Without  being  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
rapid  changes  and  feverish  activities  of  our 
time,  one  may  feel  that  any  institution  which 
tries  to  remain  stationary  in  a  moving  world 
stands  at  a  very  great  disadvantage.  In  a  cen- 
tury our  habits,  our  tastes,  our  intellectual  atmo- 
sphere are  so  greatly  altered,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible that  the  services  which  met  the  needs  of 

our  great-grandfathers  should  meet  ours  also. 

10 


1*6  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


They  could  hardly  be  suitable  to  the  sleepy 
and  conservative  Georgian  age  and  to  the 
twentieth  century.  This  has,  of  course,  been 
generally  felt ;  and  our  services  have  been 
altered.  The  music  has  become  brighter,  the 
hymns  more  varied,  more  ritual  and  ceremony 
has  been  introduced.  The  sermon  has  been 
shortened,  and  has  gained  in  actuality.  These 
changes  are  doubtless,  on  the  whole,  an  im- 
provement ;  but  they  are  in  only  one  direction. 
They  show  adaptation  to  the  views  of  a  clergy 
which  has  been  deeply  affected  by  the  Anglican 
revival  of  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  as 
well  as  to  the  impatience,  the  need  of  stimulus, 
the  desire  for  what  is  bright  and  stirring,  which 
so  deeply  marks  young  people  in  these  days. 
But  what  has  been  done  to  promote  intelligent 
thought  on  the  great  problems  of  religion,  a 
deep  and  steady  spiritual  life,  a  consecration 
of  progress  to  Christian  purposes  ?  The  habit 
of  attending  early  Communions  has  spread, 
and  to  this  other  services  have  been  in  some 
degree  sacrificed.    Can  it  be  said  that  these 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


147 


other  services  stand  now  at  a  much  higher 
level  in  the  matters  of  Christian  thought  and 
emotion  than  they  did  fifty  years  ago  ?  It 
may  be  that  we  have  not  gone  back,  we  may 
even  have  improved  :  but  compare  such  pro- 
gress, if  there  be  progress,  with  the  advances 
which  have  been  made  in  every  branch  of 
secular  knowledge. 

In  truth,  the  ignorance  of  things  religious  in 
which  the  children,  not  only  of  the  poor  but  of 
the  well-to-do,  grow  up  is  appalling.  I  know 
that  my  most  valuable  possession,  during  all 
my  life,  has  been  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
imparted  to  me  on  Sunday  afternoons  by  my 
mother.  Few  parents  now  instruct  their 
children  in  religious  knowledge ;  they  pass 
on  the  task  to  the  schoolmaster,  who,  in  turn, 
hands  on  the  responsibility  to  the  clergyman. 
But  the  clergyman  has  fifty  other  things  to  do, 
and  he  may  not  have  a  gift  for  instructing  the 
young.  In  any  case,  he  is  very  unlikely  to 
impart  such  a  love  of  the  Bible  and  of  religion 
as  one  acquires  in  a  religious  home.    Still,  the 


148  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

fact  remains  that  the  duty  of  the  intelligent 
setting  forth  of  religious  fact  and  Christian 
history  is  thrown  more  and  more  on  the  clergy, 
and  they  do  not  usually  seem  to  regard  this 
duty  with  the  seriousness  which  its  importance 
demands.    Quis  custodiet  custodes  ? 

Some  kind  of  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book 
has,  I  think,  become  necessary.1  At  the  same 
time  one  almost  trembles  at  the  suggestion. 
One  foresees  endless  clashing  between  schools 
and  views.  One  dreads  losing  what  one  most 
values  in  the  Prayer  Book  ;  and  still  more  one 
dreads  the  insertion  of  what  would  be  painful, 
and  contrary  to  the  history  and  the  spirit  of 
the  English  Church.  As  a  reformed  com- 
munion we  have  behind  us  a  life  of  three 
centuries  and  a  half,  and  in  that  time  we 
have  formed  a  character  which  is  part  of  the 
character  of  the  English  people,  and  the  loss  of 
which  would  be  the  prelude  to  total  destruction. 

1  Since  writing  this  paper  I  have  read  an  article  on  "  Re- 
vision," by  Canon  Beeching,  in  the  October  number  of  the 
Church  Quarterly  Review.  I  agree  with  it  in  almost  every 
point. 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


149 


Yet  I  venture  to  think  that  a  revision  of 
the  Prayer  Book  would  be,  not  merely  possible, 
but  even  not  difficult,  if  each  of  the  great 
parties  in  the  Church  would  make  up  its  mind 
that  the  preservation  of  the  unity  of  the 
Church  is  an  end  worth  striving  for,  and  that 
this  unity  can  only  be  preserved  by  self-sacrifice. 
If  each  party  would  but  agree  to  a  self-denying 
ordinance,  and  waive  all  attempt  to  alter  the 
Prayer  Book  in  its  own  special  direction,  rather 
preserving  the  balance  and  compromise  upon 
which  it  was  originally  founded,  then  changes 
could  be  made  to  which  only  prejudice  and 
stupidity  could  object. 

For  it  seems  perfectly  clear  that  there  is 
much  in  our  services  which  is  obviously  im- 
provable. We  are  so  used  to  what  we  hear  as 
often  as  we  enter  a  church,  and  it  is  bound  up 
so  closely  with  our  own  history  and  the  emo- 
tions which  twine  around  our  history,  that  we 
easily  allow  much  that  strikes  a  stranger  with 
astonishment.  Imagine  an  intelligent  Indian 
or  Japanese  entering  a  church,  and  hearing  our 


150  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


gentlewomen  and  carefully  nurtured  children 
singing,  "  Let  his  children  be  fatherless,  and 
his  wife  a  widow :  let  his  children  be  vaga- 
bonds, and  beg  their  bread.  .  .  .  Let  there 
be  no  man  to  pity  him,  nor  to  have  compassion 
upon  his  fatherless  children."  Would  not  our 
visitor  feel  thankful  that  in  Buddhist  temples 
no  such  imprecations  would  be  possible  ?  If 
a  member  of  another  of  the  Reformed  churches 
wandered  into  one  of  our  cathedrals  to  see 
how  we  celebrated  the  birthday  of  the  Saviour, 
he  might  well  hear  us  repeating  all  about  the 
raiment  of  needlework  and  the  gift  of  the 
daughter  of  Tyre.  "  What  in  the  world,"  he 
would  say,  "  has  this  to  do  with  the  birth  of 
Christ  ?  It  is  a  marriage  song,  perhaps,  of  one 
of  the  kings  of  Judah  :  but  surely  we  are  not 
assembled  to  celebrate  a  marriage."  And  to 
me  it  seems  scarcely  less  incongruous,  that  at 
the  most  solemn  service  of  the  Church,  when 
all  hearts  are  lifted  up  so  far  as  their  nature 
allows,  we  find  ourselves  reciting  at  great 
length  the  prohibitions  of  the  Jewish  decalogue, 


LAY  LIBERALISM  151 

one  at  least  of  which  our  Master  deliberately 
and  intentionally  set  aside,  while  others  are 
sufficiently  enforced  by  the  criminal  law. 

No  doubt,  in  these  cases  and  many  others, 
good  churchmen  do  not  take  the  words  of  the 
service  in  any  literal  sense  ;  they  transform 
them  by  religious  feeling  into  something 
Christian.  They  think  that  it  is  sin,  not  the 
sinner,  that  we  condemn  in  those  terrible 
Psalms ;  and  that  the  decalogue  may  be 
widened  to  include  most  sins  of  action  and 
even  thought.  Yet  why  lay  such  a  burden 
upon  our  shoulders,  a  burden  which  is  borne 
by  no  other  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  ? 
And  there  is  also  a  great  danger  in  the  feeling 
of  unreality  which  comes  from  constantly  using 
words  in  a  fanciful  sense.  The  result  is  that 
even  the  most  solemn  and  appropriate  of 
prayers  often  glide  over  the  surface  of  the 
minds  of  attendants  at  a  service,  "  like  a  tale 
of  little  meaning,  though  the  words  be  strong." 
We  acquire  the  notion  that  words  used  in 
Church  are  used  in  a  non-natural  sense,  and 


152  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


that  we  may  leave  them  behind  at  the  porch, 
passing  out  into  a  life  with  which  they  have 
little  in  common. 

No  doubt,  if  such  a  revision  of  the  Prayer 
Book  were  attempted,  that  its  general  broad 
character  were  altered,  the  results  would  be  dis- 
astrous. If  the  High  Church  party  succeeded 
in  seriously  altering  the  character  of  the 
Communion  Service  in  a  sacerdotal  direction, 
or  if  the  Broad  Church  party  succeeded  in 
omitting  the  creeds,1  the  result  would  be, 
and  must  be,  disastrous ;  indeed,  such  changes 
must  bring  disruption.  Would  any  wise  and 
loyal  churchman  advocate  such  changes  ? 
Speaking  for  myself,  I  must  say  that  though  I 
belong  to  the  advanced  school  of  criticism,  and 
could  find  reason  to  object  to  many  things  in 
the  daily  services,  yet  I  should  be  very  sorry 
to  see  any  changes  made  which  would  unfit 
them   for  the   expression   of  the  religious 

1  That  is,  the  shorter  creeds.  As  to  the  Athanasian 
Creed,  it  is  the  object  of  profound  dislike  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  laity  ;  and  its  removal  most  desirable.  The 
Church  of  Ireland  gets  on  quite  well  without  it. 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


153 


feelings  and  hopes  of  the  general  body  of 
worshippers.  They  are  meant,  not  for  the 
few,  but  for  the  many.  The  man  who  cannot 
join  in  forms  of  worship  with  which  his  heart 
is  in  sympathy  because  of  critical  doubts,  or 
because  he  dislikes  certain  details  of  ritual, 
is  a  man  to  be  pitied. 

But  there  are  changes  in  the  services  of  the 
Church  which  would  involve  no  question  of 
doctrine,  but  merely  adaptation  to  a  changed 
intellectual  and  moral  atmosphere.  Is  it 
impossible  that  all  parties  should  assent  to 
some  of  these  alterations,  leaving  the  larger 
questions  of  Church  practice  and  doctrine  for 
a  time  when  there  may  be  more  general  agree- 
ment ?    Let  me  mention  a  few  of  them. 

1.  The  Old  Testament  lectionary  for  Sun- 
days and  Festivals  is  still  very  unsatisfactory. 
Many  chapters  selected  for  Sunday  reading, 
especially  in  the  months  of  August  and 
September,  seem  most  perversely  chosen ; 
while  many  of  the  finest  passages  in  the  Bible 
are   never  heard   in   Sunday  services.  The 


154  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


reason  of  this  is  not  obscure :  those  who  made 
the  selection  did  not  go  by  the  intrinsic  worth 
of  various  sections  of  the  Bible,  but  regarded 
them  in  the  light  of  views  as  to  history 
prophecy  and  symbolical  interpretation,  which 
no  longer  have  any  adherents  among  scholars. 
Any  group  of  Biblical  experts,  however 
selected,  could  not  fail  to  make  a  better 
selection  of  passages  than  the  present.  The 
same  thing  holds  of  the  selection  of  special 
Psalms  for  Festivals :  the  Psalms  were  not 
usually  chosen  as  being  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Festival,  but  as  containing 
certain  verses  which  could  be  regarded  as 
prophetic  in  the  obsolete  sense  of  the  word. 

2.  The  Church  of  England  is,  I  believe,  the 
only  Church  in  Christendom  which  goes 
through  the  whole  of  the  Psalms  in  her  public 
services.  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  use  in 
monasteries  or  of  such  esoteric  services.  For 
all  time  the  Psalms  must  remain  among  the 
most  valuable  embodiments  of  the  spirit  of 
worship.    They  are  the  Church's  jewels ;  but 


LAY  LIBERALISM  155 

they  vary  greatly, — in  date,  in  character,  and 
in  appropriateness  to  a  Christian  service. 
Moreover,  they  are  in  extent  too  great  to  be 
satisfactorily  included  in  the  services  of  a 
month.  The  omission  of  a  third,  or  even  half, 
of  them  would  be  a  far  greater  gain  than  loss. 

3.  Of  the  special  services  of  the  Church, 
some  perhaps  could  not  be  altered  without 
bringing  in  the  question  of  doctrine.  But  two 
seem  free  from  this  difficulty,  the  marriage 
service  and  that  of  burial.  To  improve  the 
former  would  be  easy,  even  if  it  were  ap- 
proached only  from  the  side  of  good  sense 
and  good  manners,  and  if  no  really  religious 
question  were  raised.  The  burial  service 
seems  to  me  quite  one  of  the  least  successful 
parts  of  the  Prayer  Book.  One  must  appre- 
ciate the  difficulties  of  the  compilers,  who  had 
to  remove  Mediaeval  views  decisively  rejected 
by  the  conscience  of  the  nation  ;  and  it  was 
very  difficult  to  do  so  without  taking  away 
the  life  of  the  service.  They  fell  back  on  St 
Paul.    In  our  day  we  could  surely  wish  that 


156  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


that  great  apostle  should  less  completely 
dominate  our  burials  with  his  sublime  but 
sometimes  out  of  date  theories  of  the  future 
life,  based  as  they  were  on  an  expectation  of 
the  almost  immediate  Second  Coming  of  his 
Master.  The  spirit  of  the  occasional  prayers 
in  the  services  for  the  sick  and  the  dying  is 
admirable,  and  in  every  way  worthy  of  the 
Church  ;  a  few  prayers  of  the  same  kind  intro- 
duced into  the  burial  service,  with  the  omission 
of  part  of  the  long  Pauline  passage,  would 
greatly  improve  and  enrich  it.  At  present  its 
severe  coldness  is  almost  appalling. 

4.  One  scarcely  dares  to  suggest  that  even 
out  of  present  materials  it  would  be  possible  to 
arrange  services  of  more  variety  and  greater 
interest  than  those  in  present  use.  Many  of 
the  most  beautiful  prayers  in  the  Prayer  Book 
are  heard  but  once  a  year,  while  others  are 
staled  by  constant  repetition,  in  season  and  out 
of  season.  This  applies  still  more  to  the  Can- 
ticles. Surely  the  imagination  of  the  Church 
is  not  so  stunted,  nor  her  power  of  utterance 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


157 


so  closely  limited,  that  we  need  sing  every 
morning  of  our  lives  about  the  days  of  tempta- 
tion in  the  wilderness,  as  the  only  possible 
introduction  to  Christian  worship.  We  need 
alternative  services  suited  to  various  occasions 
and  various  audiences.  Perhaps  experience 
does  not  warrant  us  in  thinking  that  our 
bishops  and  deans  are  able  to  compose  suitable 
prayers,  like  the  divines  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. But  even  so,  it  would  be  easy  to  add 
to  the  storehouse  of  the  Prayer  Book,  already 
rich,  many  prayers  from  old  liturgies.  And  it 
would  be  taking  a  very  low  view  of  the  faculties 
of  the  clergy  to  regard  them  as  wholly  unfit  to 
introduce  from  time  to  time  written  or  extem- 
porary prayers  of  their  own  composition. 

The  Prayer  Book  contains  much  beside  the 
services  of  the  Church,  Creeds,  Articles  of 
Religion,  and  the  like.  But  of  these  a  layman 
need  not  speak ;  they  mainly  concern  the 
clergy.  What  is  really  in  the  interests  of 
laymen  is  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  Creed  or 
Article  should  be  so  tightly  interpreted  as  to 


158  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


exclude  from  the  ministry  men  who  have  a  real 
vocation  for  it.  It  is  well  known  that  under 
the  influence  of  Dean  Stanley  greater  generality 
was  introduced  into  the  formula  of  assent  to 
the  Prayer  Book  imposed  on  the  clergy.  This 
concession  has  been  beyond  value :  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  make  sure  that  no  bishop 
ventures  to  re-introduce  into  his  own  diocese  a 
more  rigid  formula  of  assent.  Such  an  attempt 
can  only  be  a  usurpation.  If  the  Church 
chooses,  as  a  whole,  to  make  pronouncement 
in  such  matters,  that  is  another  matter  :  but 
no  bishop  has  any  right  to  assume  that  he 
can  in  his  own  diocese  speak  with  the  voice 
of  the  community. 

I  do  not  propose  to  speak  of  ritual  and  vest- 
ments. It  is  a  subject  in  which  most  laymen 
take  very  little  interest.  They  would  be  quite 
content  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  clergy,  if  it 
were  not  that  they  know  that  the  clergy  value 
these  things  for  their  symbolism,  and  that  the 
doctrines  involved  in  the  symbolism  are  exactly 
the  doctrines  to  which  they  have  the  strongest 


LAY  LIBERALISM  159 

objection.  For  this  reason  they  cannot  be 
indifferent.  Nor  do  I  think  that  anything  has 
more  tended  to  foster  the  notion  that  church 
is  a  place  for  women  and  children,  but  not  for 
men,  than  the  emphasis  laid  by  so  many  of  the 
clergy  on  symbolic  ritual.  Surely  if  there  be 
one  matter  to  which  St  Paul's  principle  of 
concession  to  the  feelings  of  others  applies,  it 
is  this  matter  of  ritual.  Nothing  is  a  more 
frequent  cause  of  offence,  and  nothing  could 
be  in  itself  of  less  importance. 

m. 

Turning  next  to  the  question  of  the  work  of 
the  Church,  I  must  express  my  satisfaction 
that  in  some  of  the  papers  issued  by  the  Com- 
mittees of  the  Pan- Anglican  Congress,  a  strong 
desire  is  expressed  that  laymen  should  take  a 
larger  share  in  the  direction  and  furtherance  of 
church  activity.  It  is  seen  that  one  of  the 
greatest  dangers  of  the  Church  is  the  present 
apathy  of  the  layman,  who  seems  ready  to 
stand  aside,  and  allow  everything  to  be  done 


160  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


and  arranged  by  the  clergy.  No  one  can 
doubt  that  it  is  most  desirable  to  make  the 
layman  feel  that  he  has  an  interest  in  the 
matter,  and  that  this  interest  is  in  danger  of 
suffering.  I  would  suggest  that  the  best,  and 
indeed  the  only,  way  to  overcome  the  apathy 
of  the  laity  is  to  assign  to  them  more  responsi- 
bility, to  give  them  a  real  working  share  in  the 
Church,  and  to  be  willing  to  accept  their  views 
even  when  they  are  not  altogether  agreeable 
to  the  clergy.  If  a  clergyman  wants  to  find 
docile  disciples,  who  will  accept  his  views  and 
follow  his  lead  submissively,  he  may  find  such  ; 
but  they  will  not  be  men  of  character  or  in- 
telligence. Englishmen  are  not  imaginative, 
and  they  are  apt  not  to  be  interested  in  any 
matter  unless  they  have  some  control  of  it. 
But  the  moment  they  have  a  voice  in  deter- 
mining courses  of  action,  they  are  likely  to 
become  keener  and  keener.  Such  is  the 
psychology  of  the  matter.  Would  it  not  be 
well  to  try  to  draw  in  the  laity,  by  establishing 
church  councils,  to  which  may  be  submitted 


LAY  LIBERALISM 


161 


not  merely  questions  of  business,  but  even 
of  the  manner  of  conducting  services  ?  The 
result  would  be  undoubtedly  to  diminish  the 
gap,  which  at  present  seems  widening,  between 
clergy  and  laity.  The  Church  might  again 
become,  what  in  many  places  it  is  ceasing  to 
be,  the  Church  of  the  people.  I  may  add  that 
I  have  watched  such  a  council  lately,  and 
think  that  its  action  has  been  decidedly  bene- 
ficent. But  as  things  are,  it  has  no  real 
power. 

In  regard  to  the  social  work  of  the  Church 
the  place  of  the  layman  is  still  clearer  and  his 
aid  more  imperatively  needed. 

In  recent  years  there  has  arisen  a  strong 

wave  of  what  may  be  called  in  no  hostile  phrase 

the  passion  of  materialist  altruism,  which  has 

flooded   all  the   countries    of   Europe  and 

America.     There  has  grown  on  all  sides  a 

conviction  that  the  life  of  the  poor,  especially 

in  our  great  cities,  is  far  less  happy  than  it 

ought  to  be  and  might  be.    And  a  desire  of 

increasing  that  happiness,  of  giving  a  better 

11 


162  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


and  less  degraded  existence  to  the  toiling 
millions,  has  come  to  dominate  the  life  of 
thousands  of  our  younger  men.  The  means 
to  this  end  they  often  catch  at  hastily — passion 
is  notable  for  blinding  the  eyes  ;  — whence  a 
great  deal  of  evil  as  well  as  of  good  has  arisen 
out  of  a  sympathy  in  itself  wholly  humane.  No 
Church  can  stand  outside  this  trend  of  public 
feeling  ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  it  has  deeply 
affected  the  clergy  and  the  laity  of  the  English 
Church.  The  danger  is  that  it  may  too  com- 
pletely dominate  the  clergy,  so  that  they  may 
come  to  consider  the  relief  of  the  poor  as  their 
main  function,  and  for  it  in  some  degree  neglect 
their  more  spiritual  function. 

No  doubt  the  clergy,  in  their  exceptional 
position,  are  able  to  do  great  service  in  helping 
the  poor.  But  Christianity  as  a  religion  is 
based  on  the  view  that  a  man's  life  consisteth 
not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  that  he 
possesseth  ;  and  the  man  who  gives  up  that 
view  gives  up  his  Master.  After  all,  the  great 
duty  of  the  clergy  is  to  keep  before  people  the 


L/.Y  LIBERALISM 


163 


supreme  reality  of  the  spiritual  life :  that  is 
their  function,  and  if  they  subordinate  it  to 
any  other  enthusiasm,  however  excellent  in 
itself,  society  will  suffer  irretrievably.  Can 
anyone  turn,  however  hastily,  the  pages  of 
Christian  history,  without  seeing  that  the  whole 
spring  of  it  lies  in  the  value  set  on  the  im- 
material as  compared  with  the  material  ? 
People  say  that  until  the  masses  reach  a  certain 
level  of  comfort  they  cannot  be  Christian. 
However  keenly  one  may  sympathise  with 
those  who  desire  to  raise  the  level  of  material 
existence,  one  must  remember  that  Christianity 
grew  to  maturity  in  the  slums  of  ancient  cities, 
slums  compared  with  which  the  worst  districts 
of  London  and  Liverpool  are  paradises.  Have 
the  poorest  of  the  poor  ever  fasted  or  lived 
as  hardly  as  Christian  anchorites  ?  We  must 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  misled  by  cant  in 
this  matter.  Physical  comfort  may  be  a  more 
desirable  thing  than  religious  peace — that  is 
a  common  view,  though  not  a  Christian  view  ; 
but  physical  discomfort  does   not  exclude 


164  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


religious  peace — that  is  as  certain  as  the  fact 
that  the  world  revolves  round  the  sun. 

There  is  much  social  organising  of  an  inno- 
cent kind  which  commonly  falls  on  the  clergy, 
especially  in  country  places,  such  work  as  form- 
ing boys'  brigades  and  arranging  evening  read- 
ings and  lectures.  This  is,  of  course,  excellent ; 
and  it  greatly  helps  the  purely  religious  side 
of  a  clergyman's  influence  by  putting  him  on 
friendly  terms  with  his  neighbours.  But  when 
we  come  to  the  organisation  of  charitable  relief 
we  reach  something  very  different,  and  infin- 
itely more  easy  to  twist  to  bad  ends.  I  am 
by  no  means  sure  that  it  would  not  be  a  good 
thing  if  the  clergy,  while  taking  a  fair  share  in 
charitable  work,  would  leave  the  main  organ- 
isation of  it  to  such  bodies  as  County  Councils 
and  the  Committees  of  the  Charity  Organisa- 
tion Society.  In  hundreds  of  parishes  the 
action  of  the  clergy  tends  to  degrade  the  poor  by 
spoiling  their  love  of  independence,  and  tends 
to  substitute  a  mean  and  querulous  spirit  for 
a  courageous  determination  to  make  the  best 


LAY  LIBERALISM  165 

of  existing  circumstances.  Less  almsgiving 
and  more  equality  between  the  clergy  and  the 
poor  would  be  a  better  relation  with  a  view 
to  the  religious  helpfulness  of  the  former. 
And  I  know  this  to  be  the  feeling  of  many  of 
the  clergy  themselves. 

I  would  fain  end  in  a  hopeful  spirit.  Nor 
is  this  difficult.  For  I  am  convinced,  by  a 
multitude  of  facts  which  have  recently  come 
under  my  observation,  that  a  more  moderate 
and  reasonable  spirit  is  spreading  through  the 
Anglican  ranks.  Among  the  clergy  there  is 
a  growing  feeling  that  the  results  of  recent 
biblical  criticism  and  research  must  be  con- 
sidered, and  may  even  bring  advantage.  In 
the  year  1905  a  declaration1  in  favour  of  a 
more  liberal  attitude  towards  such  criticism 
was  signed  by  seventeen  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England. 
The  Broad  Church  party,  which  seemed  almost 
extinct  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  is  show- 
ing fresh'life.    Bishops,  and  even  clerical  papers 

1  Published  by  A.  &  C.  Black  :  1906. 


166  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


like  the  Guardian,  are  growing  less  narrow, 
and  more  disposed  to  look  beyond  tradition  to 
the  facts  of  experience  and  history.  "  A  breath 
of  morning  blows."  May  the  breath  grow  into 
a  strong  breeze,  which  may  blow  away  the  dust 
of  centuries,  and  fill  the  sails  of  the  Church 
for  a  fresh  voyage  into  the  misty  future ! 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM 

BY 

Sir  C.  THOMAS  DYKE  ACLAND 

The  Gladstonian  era  has  now  passed  away. 
Ten  years  have  elapsed  since  its  close.  But 
in  considering  the  relation  of  English  church- 
men to  politics  at  the  present  moment,  the 
fact  that  the  greatest  English  statesman  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  who  was  for  nearly  half 
that  century  the  leader  of  the  Liberal  party, 
was  also  the  most  eminent  layman  of  the 
English  Church,  is  one  which  cannot  but  be 
of  the  greatest  significance. 

If  there  be  one  characteristic  which,  in 
Mr  Gladstone's  most  complex  personality,  was 
more  salient  than  another,  it  was  his  most  de- 
voted attachment  to  the  Church  of  England. 
And  yet  there  never  was  a  member  of  the 

167 


168  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Liberal  party  in  whose  career  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Liberalism  were  more  strikingly 
exemplified. 

It  should  therefore  not  be  difficult  to  show 
that  attachment  to  the  Church  of  England  is 
not  inconsistent  with  an  earnest  belief  in 
Liberalism  and  a  whole-hearted  zeal  for  its 
application  in  politics. 

It  may  be  asked,  What  is  Liberalism  ?  And 
in  what  does  attachment  to  the  Church  of 
England  consist  ?  And  to  each  of  these 
questions  the  answer  cannot  but  be  some- 
what vague. 

"  Liberalism  "  during  the  last  two  generations 
has  been  for  the  most  part  used  to  denote  the 
opposite  of  "  Conservatism."  But  that  use  of 
the  word  is  only  so  far  justifiable  as  meaning 
the  creed  of  the  Liberal  party  as  distinguished 
from  that  of  the  Conservative  party.  Liberal- 
ism is  not  the  opposite  of  Conservatism  if 
Conservatism  is  intended  to  mean,  as  Con- 
servatives would  claim  that  it  does,  the  con- 
servation of  the  characteristic  elements  of  the 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM 


169 


British  Constitution.  For  there  are  very 
many  earnest  Liberals  who  would  say  that  the 
British  Constitution  is  much  safer  in  the  hands 
of  the  Liberal  party  than  in  the  hands  of  their 
opponents  in  Parliament. 

The  interpretation  of  the  word  as  denoting 
a  belief  in  broadening  the  basis  of  the  constitu- 
tion, with  earnest  fidelity  to  the  principles  of 
that  constitution,  though  vague,  would  be  far 
more  accurate. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  illustrations  of 
this  occurred  in  1867,  when  the  Conservative 
party,  led  by  Mr  Disraeli,  after  having  for 
many  years  thwarted  the  efforts  of  their 
opponents  to  extend  the  suffrage,  suddenly 
resolved  to  "dish  the  Whigs"  by  going 
straight  for  household  suffrage  in  towns,  which 
was  a  complete  "  volte  face  "  from  the  position 
that  they  had  up  to  that  time  unswervingly 
maintained  in  defence  of  the  constitution. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  defend  that  step 
from  a  truly  Conservative  point  of  view.  For 
though,  from  a  purely  party  point  of  view, 


170 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


it  may  have  "  dished  the  Whigs,"  the  step  was 
in  harmony  with  Liberal,  and  not  with  Con- 
servative, principles. 

The  old  Whig  watchword,  "  Civil  and 
Religious  Liberty,"  though  not  always  an 
accurate  description  of  the  practice  of  the 
Whig  party,  does  certainly  describe  shortly 
but  truly  the  principles  and  practice  of  their 
Parliamentary  successors,  the  Liberal  party, 
of  which  Mr  Gladstone  was  the  founder,  and 
to  the  end  of  his  life  the  real  leader,  and  it 
may  be  fairly  claimed  as  a  true  description 
of  the  aims  of  "  Political  Liberalism  "  at  the 
present  day. 

In  the  Contemporary  Review  for  January 
1908,  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Sinclair,  in  an  excellent 
article  upon  Liberalism  and  Christianity,  has 
pointed  out  that  "  Liberalism  finds  its  main 
arguments  in  principles  which  lie  in  the  mind 
itself,  while  Conservatism  is  preoccupied  with 
institutions  which  are  a  part  of  the  existing 
order  of  things  that  the  Conservative 

leader  stands,  so  to  speak,  within  the  institu- 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  171 

tions,  and  looks  critically  at  the  principles, 
while  the  Liberal  leader  stands  within  the  prin- 
ciples, and  looks  critically  at  the  institutions— 
the  one  teaching,  by  implication,  that  the  value 
of  the  principles  is  to  preserve  and  strengthen 
the  institutions,  and  the  other  that  the  entire 
value  and  use  of  the  institutions  is  to  realise 
the  principles." 

Now,  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that  the 
English  churchman,  as  such,  stands  within  an 
institution  ;  but  the  very  essence  of  that  institu- 
tion is  that  it  should  realise  the  principle  which 
lies  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  whole  fabric  of 
Liberalism,  viz.,  the  promotion  of  free  respon- 
sible citizenship  upon  the  Christian  basis, — 
"  Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  they  should  " 
"  do  unto  you." 

The  English  churchman  feels,  at  the  bottom 
of  his  heart,  that  the  Church  exists  for  the 
Glory  of  God,  as  manifested  in  the  good  of  all 
mankind  ;  that,  as  a  member  of  that  Church, 
it  is  his  duty,  as  far  as  in  him  lies,  to  promote 
the  good  of  all  men  within  his  reach. 


172  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Consequently,  when  such  an  issue  is  pre- 
sented to  him  as  the  disestablishment  of  a 
branch  of  that  Church  in  a  region  in  which  its 
Establishment  cannot  be  clearly  shown  to  be 
for  the  good  of  the  people  of  that  region,  he 
will  have  to  be  guided  by  the  maintenance  of 
the  principle  rather  than  by  that  of  the  institu- 
tion. The  greater  the  sincerity  of  his  church- 
manship,  that  is  to  say,  the  more  deeply  he 
believes  in  the  principles  upon  which  it  is 
founded,  in  other  words,  the  stronger  his  faith, 
the  greater  will  be  the  courage  which  will  guide 
the  application  of  those  principles  in  political 
action,  and  the  less  anxious  will  he  be  lest  the 
Church  he  believes  in  should  suffer  from  the 
consequences  of  such  application. 

But  the  truth  is  that  "attachment  to  the 
Church  of  England  "  has  been  for  the  most 
part  in  the  United  Kingdom  far  too  generally 
taken  to  mean  attachment  to  the  so-called 
political  principle  of  the  Establishment  of  that 
Church.  The  examples,  however,  of  Ireland 
and  the  Colonies  afford  ample  demonstration 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  173 


that  Establishment  is  not  a  principle  of  the 
English  Church.  If  a  principle  at  all,  it  is  a 
political,  not  an  ecclesiastical,  principle.  But, 
in  reality,  it  is  an  institution,  and  not  a  principle. 
That  is  to  say,  the  maintenance  of  the  Estab- 
lishment of  the  Church,  as  a  political  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  Christianity,  has  ceased 
to  justify  itself  on  the  ground  of  necessity,  since 
it  has  become  obvious  that  Christianity  does 
not  depend  upon  the  Establishment  of  the 
Church  for  its  maintenance  in  this  country. 

But  the  Establishment  may  have,  and  in 
the  minds  of  many  churchmen  it  has,  a  very 
great  value  as  regards  the  Church  herself, 
quite  apart  from  the  Endowment  with  which, 
in  the  mind  of  the  politician,  it  is  usually 
linked. 

For  one  of  the  present  characteristics  of  the 
Church  of  England  is  her  comprehensiveness, 
i.e.  the  fact  that  within  her  borders  there  is 
room  for  many  standpoints ;  many  aspects  of 
truth  commend  themselves  to  different  groups 
of  her  members,  with  equal  force  and  sincerity 


174  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


in  each  case,  and  consistently  with  equal  loyalty 
to  her  leading  principles. 

This  is  not  the  place,  nor  is  it  intended  in 
this  paper  to  discuss  any  of  these  standpoints 
or  the  aspects  in  which  the  truth  is  viewed  from 
them.  It  is  wholly  unnecessary  to  do  so  when 
the  political  position  alone  is  being  considered. 
But  very  many  churchmen  value  above  all 
others  that  special  characteristic,  comprehen- 
siveness, and  with  such  men,  their  attachment 
to  the  political  institution  of  the  Establishment 
of  the  Church  by  law  is  not  in  any  sense  due 
to  a  conservative  value  of  the  institution  as 
such,  but  to  their  conviction  as  Liberals  that 
a  principle  most  dear  to  their  hearts  is  best 
realised  and  preserved  by  its  means. 

They  have  a  fear,  which  is  far  from  being  un- 
reasonable, that  the  emancipation  of  the  Church 
from  the  State  control,  to  which,  by  her  being 
Established,  she  is  inevitably  subject,  would 
result  in  the  loss  of  that  breadth  and  compre- 
hensiveness which  keeps  her  borders  wide 
enough  to  secure  a  freedom  of  thought,  a  liberty 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM 


175 


of  prophesying,  for  which  it  is  at  present  hard 
to  devise  any  other  guarantee. 

There  are  various  aspects  of  this  fact.  It  is 
true  as  regards  clergy  and  laity  alike.  The 
Establishment  acts  to  some  extent  upon  clerical 
authority,  to  restrain  it  from  abuse,  but  it  also 
gives  to  the  clergy  who  value  it  a  certain 
freedom  of  utterance  ;  while,  again,  it  gives  to 
every  subject  of  the  King  who  is  not,  either  by 
his  own  act  or  by  some  other  special  circum- 
stance, severed  from  the  National  Church,  a 
right  to  the  ministrations  of  the  clergy  of  that 
Church ;  every  minister  also  is  liable  to  civil 
consequences  for  certain  ecclesiastical  offences. 

It  is  therefore  quite  possible  for  one  whose 
guiding  principle  is  the  love  of  individual 
liberty,  to  hold  fast  to  a  system  which,  in 
effecting  the  control  of  an  institution,  preserves 
the  liberty  of  its  individual  members,  on  the 
very  ground  that  upon  the  emancipation  from 
State  control  which  would,  to  some  extent, 
follow  upon  the  loss  of  State  support  of  the 
institution  as  a  whole,  the  individual  members 


176  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


of  it  would  risk  a  diminution  of  their  liberty 
as  long  as  they  remained  attached  to  the  in- 
stitution. 

This,  then,  is  a  fair  example  of  what  was 
said  above,  quoting  from  Rev.  J.  D.  Sinclair, 
that  a  man  may  stand  within  principles,  and 
look  critically  at  the  institution,  the  whole 
value  of  the  institution  being  that  it  adequately 
realises  the  principles. 

Such  a  man  may  perhaps,  as  a  churchman, 
hold  somewhat  lightly  by  the  institution  of 
the  Establishment  of  the  Church,  on  the 
ground  that  the  institution  is  of  real  value, 
not  to  the  Church,  but  only  to  the  State. 
And  there  are,  of  course,  many  such  church- 
men to  whom  "  Establishment "  seems  simply 
a  yoke,  to  be  cast  off  as  an  incubus,  and  who 
hold  that,  in  controlling  the  Church,  the  State 
is  also  curtailing  the  liberty  of  the  individual 
members  of  the  Church.  And  there  are  also 
many  who  base  upon  the  experience  gained 
in  Ireland  and  in  the  Colonies  a  belief  that, 
similarly,  the  home  branch  of  the  Church  of 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  177 

England,  if  rendered  independent  alike  of  the 
control  and  of  the  support  of  the  State,  would 
gain  in  energy  and  vitality. 

Unquestionably,  there  is  much  to  be  said  in 
support  of  such  a  belief.  It  is  no  doubt  the 
conviction  of  most  of  the  members  of  the  non- 
conforming bodies.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  several  very  important  counterbalancing 
considerations. 

For  instance,  there  is  the  fact  that  the  Church 
of  England  grew,  in  the  same  way  that  other 
parts  of  the  constitution  have  grown,  that  it 
never  was  by  any  definite  statute  established, 
and  yet  it  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  constitution 
as  the  Crown  or  either  House  of  Parliament. 

Again,  the  origin  of  the  Diocesan  and  of  the 
Parochial  systems  are  lost  in  antiquity.  They 
are  parts  of  what  has  been,  from  the  earliest 
times  of  our  history,  the  National  Church. 

It  was  stipulated  in  Magna  Charta  that  the 
Church  of  England  should  be  free  and  inviol- 
able.   And  when,  by  way  of  providing  against 

Papal  Supremacy,  the  Royal  Supremacy  was 

12 


178  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


proclaimed,  that  was  not  in  any  way  the 
Establishment,  or  a  creation,  of  a  special 
branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  rather  an 
assertion  that  the  final  authority  in  things 
ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  in  things  temporal, 
must  be  the  will  of  the  nation,  as  expressed 
in  the  laws  which  it  has  made,  or  in  the  con- 
stitutional action  of  the  Crown. 

In  this  respect  the  Church  stands  in  much 
the  same  relation  as  any  other  religious  body 
towards  the  State.  But  it  is  marked  off  from 
these  other  bodies  by  the  Royal  Supremacy, 
the  Episcopal  bench  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  the  disability  of  any  beneficed  minister  to 
be  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

One  feature,  however,  of  the  case,  which 
is  probably  an  "  inseparable  accident,"  if  not 
an  actual  result,  of  "  Establishment,"  is  that, 
without  the  sanction  of  a  Parliament,  which 
may  contain  "  Jews,  Turks,  Infidels,  and  Here- 
tics," the  Church  cannot  alter  or  amend  her 
own  system,  or  reform  any  of  her  laws  and 
regulations. 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  179 

But  at  this  many  churchmen  chafe,  adding 
it  to  the  deadening  and  relaxing  influence 
which  they  allege  to  be  the  inevitable  result 
of  endowment  and  State  support ;  they  are 
inclined  to  cry  out,  "  Away  with  Establish- 
ment ;  let  the  Church  be  as  free  from  the  King 
as  she  is  from  the  Pope."  To  them  the  ancient 
identity  of  the  Church  with  the  Nation,  as  a 
National  Church,  the  freedom  of  private  judg- 
ment, the  practical  value  of  the  Church  as  a 
pervading  religious  institution,  the  conferring 
of  a  Christian  character  upon  the  State,  are  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  liberty  of  action 
as  a  corporate  body  free  from  the  interference 
of  all  outside,  which,  in  their  opinion,  would 
be  gained. 

In  the  minds,  then,  of  very  many  earnest 
churchmen  the  real  question  at  issue  is :  Can 
the  Church  be  given  more  liberty  without  in- 
curring the  risk  of  losing  comprehensiveness  ? 
In  the  minds  of  many  Liberals  the  converse 
question  asks  itself :  Is  the  risk,  which  amounts 
almost  to  a  certainty,  of  the  disruption  of  the 


180  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


corporate  body,  i.e.  the  loss  of  comprehensive- 
ness, worth  the  loss  of  the  contingent  increase 
of  vitality  and  energy  among  a  small  propor- 
tion of  her  members,  and  the  certain  narrowing 
of  her  borders,  to  the  exclusion  of  vast  masses 
of  the  nation  who  are  now  reckoned  among 
her  members  ?  And  Liberals  who  belong  to 
the  Church  of  England,  or  members  of  the 
Church  of  England  who  belong  to  the  Liberal 
party,  must  have  this  question  at  the  back  of 
their  minds  whenever  great  problems  of  policy 
which  in  any  way  affect  the  Church  arise  for 
solution. 

Now,  during  the  last  three  generations, 
churchmen  have  had  to  face  three  or  four 
large  questions  upon  which  legislation  has 
taken  place  in  which  the  interests  of  the 
Church  have  been  involved.  For  instance,  in 
1868,  Mr  Gladstone  carried  a  Bill  for  the 
Abolition  of  Compulsory  Church  Rates ;  in 
1871,  the  Abolition  of  Tests  at  the  Universities  ; 
in  1874  was  passed  the  Public  Worship 
Regulation  Act ;  and,  later,  the  Burials  Bill. 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  181 

In  1883  there  was  the  great  dispute  about  the 
Parliamentary  Oath,  and  since  1876  there  have 
been  various  struggles  over  the  subject  of  Ele- 
mentary Education.  In  every  one  of  these 
cases  the  Conservative  party  have  been  on  the 
side  of  the  status  quo,  and  have  claimed  to  be 
defending  the  Church.  Liberal  churchmen, 
however,  have,  as  a  rule,  been  faithful  to  their 
party,  and,  as  they  themselves  would  say,  also 
faithful  to  their  Church.  In  other  matters, 
such  as  Licensing  Reform,  and  Temperance 
questions  generally,  Lord  Peel,  the  late  Arch- 
bishop Temple,  and  other  prominent  church- 
men, have  taken  active  and  important  pro- 
gressive parts. 

In  strictly  Church  matters,  such  as  the 
Pluralities  Acts  Amendment  Act,  it  cannot 
be  said  that  churchmen  generally,  as  such,  on 
either  side  of  the  House,  have  taken  any  real 
interest.  Nor  in  any  one  of  these  instances 
can  it  be  seriously  alleged  that  their  member- 
ship of  the  Church  of  England  has  produced 
any  marked  effect  in  sending  votes  over  from 


182 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


the  Liberal  benches  into  the  lobby  of  their 
opponents. 

There  have,  on  the  other  hand,  been 
instances,  not  a  few,  in  which  the  Noncon- 
formist vote  has  been  almost  solid  without 
reference  to  party,  if  not  quite,  upon  occasions 
when  it  has  appeared  that  some  principle,  upon 
religious  or  other  grounds,  dear  to  them,  was 
at  stake. 

When,  therefore,  we  look  back  over  the 
long  list  of  subjects  which,  during  the  three 
generations  covered  by  the  life  of  the  Liberal 
party  (as  successors  to  the  Whigs),  have 
divided  the  Houses  of  Parliament  upon  party 
lines,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  membership 
of  the  Church  of  England  should  have  been  so 
constantly  taken  to  imply  membership  of  the 
Tory  party,  nor  why  it  is  so  rare,  compara- 
tively, to  find  a  member  of  the  Liberal  party 
taking  an  interest  in  Church  questions. 

It  would  have  seemed,  a  priori,  probable 
that,  in  proportion  to  the  zealousness  of  his 
churchmanship,  a  member  of  the  Church  of 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  183 


England  would  be  anxious  to  turn  the  whole 
force  of  the  Church  in  the  direction  of  social 
improvement,  in  furtherance  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  upon  earth.  Instead  of  that,  we  find 
in  popular  phraseology  such  sarcasms  as  "  Beer 
and  Bible."  We  find  the  influence  of  the 
Church  described  as  reactionary  with  regard 
to  education.  We  find  the  Christian  Social 
Union  instituted  within  the  Church  to  teach 
churchmen  their  duty  upon  social  subjects. 
We  find  the  mass  of  the  country  clergy  voting 
at  elections  for  the  Conservative  candidates, 
and  it  is  usually  taken  for  granted  that  a 
Liberal  will  be  "  unsound "  upon  Church 
questions.  In  all  ordinary  University  con- 
troversy the  influence  of  the  mass  of  clerical 
M.A's.  has  been  not  only  Conservative,  but 
obstructive. 

A  fair  instance  of  the  ordinary  course  of 
things  illustrative  of  the  above  anomaly  may 
be  found  in  what,  not  many  years  ago, 
occurred  with  reference  to  elementary  schools. 
It  had  become  matter  of  common  knowledge, 


184  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

and  no  matter  of  surprise,  that  the  voluntary 
schools  of  which  the  vast  majority  were  Church 
of  England  schools,  were  very  much  worse 
equipped  all  round  than  what  were  then  called 
Board  schools.  The  minister  in  charge  of 
education  at  the  time  thought  it  his  duty,  as 
it  clearly  was,  in  justice  to  the  children  attend- 
ing these  "  Church  "  schools,  to  insist  that  the 
schools  they  attended  should  be  brought  into 
line  with  the  Board  or  Undenominational 
schools.  He  was  at  once  assailed  in  every 
possible  way  as  an  enemy  to  Church  schools, 
and  as  being  determined  to  crush  them  out 
of  existence.  He  was  comforted,  however,  by 
a  very  great  multitude  of  letters  of  thanks 
from  clergymen  and  others  interested  in 
Church  schools,  many  of  whom  informed  him 
that,  until  the  pressure  so  applied  had  begun 
to  be  severely  felt,  they  had  never  been  able 
to  stir  up  churchmen  to  their  responsibility  to 
the  children  in  attendance  at  their  schools  ;  but 
that,  under  the  influence  of  that  pressure,  the 
money  had  flowed  in  much  more  freely  in 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM 


185 


support  of  the  Church  schools.  In  point  of 
fact,  the  very  churchmen  who  were  the  loudest 
in  their  denunciation  of  a  policy  devised  in  the 
interest  of  the  children  attending  the  Church 
schools  were  those  who  themselves,  by  their 
own  neglect,  had  shown  their  indifference  to 
that  interest. 

But  it  is  perhaps  natural,  and  in  the  ordinary 
course  only  what  we  have  to  expect,  that  in  the 
case  of  questions  like  the  Abolition  of  Tests, 
which,  as  they  only  operate  upon  honest  men. 
are  useless  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  are 
imposed,  or,  like  the  Abolition  of  Compulsory 
Church  Rates,  which  was  intended  to  mitigate 
the  feeling  of  injustice  that  was  rankling  in 
the  hearts  of  Nonconformists,  the  more  slowly- 
moving  among  the  minds  of  churchmen  and 
of  politicians  would  be  found  moving  together. 

But  no  Liberal  churchman  can  have  doubted 
for  a  moment  that  in  supporting  these  and 
other  such  reforms  he  was  voting  in  the  true 
interests  of  the  National  Church.  Many  very 
earnest  churchmen  have  felt   that  on  great 


186  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

questions,  such  as  the  attitude  of  Great  Britain 
in  the  face  of  Europe  in  regard  to  the  problems 
that  have  arisen  in  the  East,  or  on  such  ques- 
tions as  Arbitration  (as  in  the  settlement  of  the 
Alabama  claims),  the  earliest  possible  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  (as  after  Majuba  Hill),  the 
outbreak  of  the  South  African  War,  the 
granting  of  the  Transvaal  Constitution,  and 
the  recognition  of  General  Botha,  their  right 
place  was  in  the  Liberal  ranks. 

And  upon  Domestic  subjects,  such  as  Tem- 
perance, the  Housing  of  the  Working  Classes, 
the  strict  administration  of  the  Public  Health 
Acts,  and  many  of  the  minor  topics  of  social 
legislation,  it  would  seem  that,  so  far  as  religious 
considerations  go,  i.e.  so  far  as  membership  of 
the  National  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
counts  in  politics  at  all,  it  should  count  on  the 
side  of  reform  of  abuses  rather  than  on  the 
recognition  and  protection  of  vested  interests. 

Upon  the  great  and  wide  subject  of  financial 
policy  is  there  any  question  that,  as  regards 
the  great  masses  of  the  population,  the  Liberal 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  187 


principles  upon  which  during  the  last  half 
century  our  financial  policy  has  been  based, 
have  resulted  in  a  vast  increase  of  comfort, 
especially  among  the  poorer  classes  ?  The  pur- 
chasing power  of  their  wages  has  been  greatly 
increased ;  their  standard  of  living  has  risen  ; 
there  is  less  pauperism  and  more  thrift.  Is 
there  any  question  that,  by  the  application  to 
finance  of  those  Liberal  principles,  we  have 
minimised  the  chances  of  political  corruption 
and  selfish  interaction  of  separate  interests, 
commonly  called  "  log-rolling  "  ? 

At  any  rate,  is  there  anything  in  attachment 
to  the  Church  of  England  which  should  make 
a  member  of  the  National  Church,  as  such, 
hesitate  to  ally  himself  with  the  party  which 
resolutely  adheres  to  Liberalism  in  such 
matters  ? 

And  even  upon  the  vexed  question  of 
Education,  which  at  the  present  time  occupies 
so  large  a  space  in  the  public  mind,  there  is 
already  ample  evidence  that  a  considerable 
number  of  strong  and  earnest  churchmen  are 


188  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

agreed  that  the  safety  and  permanence  of  any 
settlement,  and  the  interests  of  both  education 
and  religion  depend,  not  upon  the  maintenance 
as  far  as  possible  of  the  status  quo,  nor  upon  the 
recognition  of  claims  based  even  upon  recent 
history,  but  upon  the  steady  and  equitable 
application  of  those  principles  which  constitute 
Liberalism,  and  upon  which  all  progress,  edu- 
cational and  otherwise,  have  been  based. 

If  the  principles  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
are  to  guide  our  political,  our  commercial,  and 
our  public  life ;  if  our  institutions  are  for  the 
realisation  of  principles  ;  if  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath  ; 
why  need  any  member  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land hesitate  to  ally  himself  with  the  Liberal 
party  ?  Are  not  the  principles  of  one  the 
principles  also  of  the  other  ? 

These  are  the  words  of  the  Right  Hon.  H. 
H.  Asquith,  K.C.,  M.P.,  about  the  State1: 
"The  proposals  of  Liberalism  are  fruits;  the 

1  Liberalism  :  its  Principles  and  Proposals,  by  H.  L.  Samuel, 
with  introduction  by  Right  Hon.  H.  H.  Asquith,  K.C.,  M.P. 


POLITICAL  LIBERALISM  189 


principles  of  Liberalism  are  branches,  which 
are  supported  and  nourished  by  a  single  stem. 
The  ideas  expressed  on  the  platform,  and  the 
bills  introduced  into  Parliament,  are  not  an 
opportunist  collection  of  unconnected  schemes, 
each  advocated  because  it  happens  to  be  popu- 
lar with  some  section  of  electors.  They  all 
originate  in  one  motive,  and  spring  from  one 
essential  doctrine.  If  we  try  to  express  that 
doctrine  in  a  single  sentence,  we  shall  best 
formulate  it  perhaps  in  these  words  :  That  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  secure  to  all  its  members, 
and  all  others  whom  it  can  influence,  the  fullest 
possible  opportunity  to  lead  the  best  life" 

And  these  are  the  words  of  Bishop  Westcott 
about  the  Church : 

"  We  have  in  England  that  which  gives 
completeness  to  our  national  life,  a  National 
Church  as  the  spiritual  organ  of  the  nation,  a 
Church  which  has  shaped  popular  aspirations 
and  welcomed  popular  influences  ;  a  Church 
which  has  again  and  again  proved  its  power  to 
assimilate  new  truths,  and  to  awaken  dormant 


190  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


forces  ;  a  Church  which  in  great  crises  has  been 
able  to  reconcile  order  with  progress  ;  a  Church 
which  has  used,  and  with  quickened  devotion 
is  striving  to  use,  great  possessions  and  great 
place,  so  as  to  bind  all  classes  together  more 
closely  in  the  unity  of  one  life,  and  to  offer  in 
all  its  freedom  and  grace  a  Gospel  to  the  poor." 

" .  .  .  .  The  Church  is  called  to  inspire  all 
its  members  with  devotion  to  public  service, 
and  to  bring  them  personally  once  again  under 
the  invigorating  influence  of  a  disciplined  life." 
"  .  .  .  .  The  National  Church  should  recognise 
the  duty  of  facing  the  problems  of  English 
society  and  English  private  life,  with  all  their 
consequences." 1 

Surely  the  members  of  a  Church  thus 
described  by  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  her 
recent  bishops  should  be  able  to  find  in 
Liberalism  the  expression  of  their  political 
faith,  and  to  feel  themselves  in  accord  with  the 
other  members  of  the  Liberal  party. 

1  Christian  Aspects  of  Life,  by  the  late  Bishop  of 
Durham,  1897. 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM 

OR 

LIBERAL  THEOLOGY  AND  THE 
RECONSTRUCTION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  SOCIETY 

BY 

The  Rev.  A.  J.  CARLYLE 

We  have  in  theology  passed  beyond  the  stage 
in  which  men  thought  that  there  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  clear  away  some  lumber  and  the 
truth  would  stand  out.  We  have  all  come  to 
learn  that  construction  is  even  more  necessary 
than  the  mere  removal  of  the  superfluous  ;  for 
the  living  spirit  not  only  casts  off  the  worn- 
out  vesture  of  past  time,  but  must  clothe  itself 
anew  in  the  forms  appropriate  to  its  own 
growth  and  to  its  new  surroundings. 

It  is  time  that  religious  men  should  under- 
stand that  this  holds  in  respect  of  the  organised 

191 


192  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


life  of  society  just  as  much  as  of  the  forms  of 
religious  belief  and  action.  It  would  be  a  sorry 
spectacle  if  we  were  to  see  men  who  have  done 
something  to  vindicate  liberty  in  religion,  and 
have  begun  to  face  the  urgent  need  of  positive 
construction,  refuse  to  face  the  fact  that  the 
forms  of  human  life  and  of  the  organisation  of 
society  must  change,  and  that  the  new  desires 
and  ideals  of  men  must  find  for  themselves  new 
modes  of  expression  in  social  organisation. 

There  is  nothing  clear  and  plain  to  the 
serious  student  of  history  if  it  is  not  this,  that 
the  social  movement  of  our  time  rests  upon  a 
new  apprehension  of  the  real  quality  and  char- 
acter of  human  nature,  which  is  at  least  as 
important  and  as  significant  as  are  the  new 
developments  in  the  intellectual  world.  The 
critics  of  the  modern  social  movements  who 
denounce  these  as  the  expression  of  a  mere 
materialism  are  surely  the  most  inept,  the  most 
incapable  of  observers  and  thinkers.  It  argues 
but  a  small  intelligence  if  men  cannot  penetrate 
behind  the  material  demands  of  modern  Social- 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM 


193 


ism  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  apprehensions 
which  lie  behind  them,  if  they  cannot  see  that 
these  demands  are  in  large  measure  the  results 
of  a  new  sense  of  the  equal  value  and  dignity 
of  human  life,  of  the  need  of  making  real  the 
brotherhood  of  humanity,  of  the  need  of  the 
extension  of  the  sovereignty  of  justice  from 
the  political  to  the  social  and  industrial  sphere, 
and  if  they  cannot  understand  that  the  demand 
for  the  "  common  control "  is  the  form,  on  the 
one  hand,  of  the  experience  which  has  taught 
Western  civilisation  the  need  of  self-govern- 
ment, and,  on  the  other,  of  the  principle  that 
in  true  life  every  man  must  take  his  share  in 
the  determination  of  his  own  fate,  and  can- 
not submit  to  a  government  which  comes  from 
outside,  however  well  meant,  however  sym- 
pathetic, however  intelligent. 

Freedom,  justice,  brotherhood,  equality, 
these  are  the  master  principles  of  the  revolt  of 
the  Proletariat,  and  surely  they  are  also  the 
principles,  the  first  and  rudimentary  principles, 
of  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 

13 


194  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Liberalism  in  religion  and  in  society  has 
meant,  in  the  first  place,  the  revolt  against  worn- 
out  forms  and  methods  of  life,  against  the 
superstitions  which  would  serve  to  smother 
life  in  the  forms  which  it  has  itself  produced, 
but  which,  just  because  they  are  forms  of  the 
living  spirit  and  not  of  mere  dead  matter,  must 
be  perpetually  renewed  and  constantly  modi- 
fied ;  and,  still  more  profoundly,  it  represents 
the  eternal  revolt  of  the  Divine  spirit  in  man 
against  an  authority  which  is  imposed  from  out- 
side, which  has  ceased  to  represent  the  living 
self-determination  of  the  free  children  of  God. 
Revolt  against  a  worn-out  and  merely  external 
authority  has  been,  and  necessarily  has  been, 
the  first  stage  in  the  reform  of  religion  and  of 
life.  But  revolt  is  not  life  ;  revolt  is  only  the 
expression  of  a  living  power  breaking  the 
bonds  which  are  smothering  it.  Life  itself  is 
not  negative,  but  positive  ;  life  is  not  anarchy, 
but  order ;  or  rather,  to  put  the  matter  more 
justly,  revolt  against  order  is  not  liberty. 
Liberty  is  true  order,  obedience  to  the  true  law, 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM  195 


the  true  authority,  the  true  law  and  authority 
which  come  from  within,  not  merely  from 
without. 

The  Liberal  has  understood  this  in  politics, 
and  destroyed  the  old  authorities  only  to  sub- 
stitute for  them  self-government,  the  "  common 
control,"  in  place  of  government  by  external 
authority ;  but  he  has  to  learn  a  greater  faith 
in  his  own  principles,  to  understand  that  the 
"  common  control "  which  he  has  successfully 
applied  to  the  political  organisation  has  now 
to  be  extended  to  the  industrial  organisation. 
And  surely  the  religion  of  the  freedom  of  the 
sons  of  God  will  not  fail  to  understand  that 
the  Christian  man  is  freed,  not  that  he  may 
live  in  brutish  and  immoral  isolation,  but  that 
he  may  find  his  true  liberty  in  the  free  self- 
determination  of  the  whole  body  of  his  equal 
brothers  ;  the  Christian  man  who  understands 
the  meaning  of  the  indissoluble  unity  of 
the  members  in  the  one  body  of  Christ 
will  also,  must  also,  come  to  understand  the 
unity  of  human  life  in  the  one  body  of  the 


196  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Divine  Society  of  the  state ;  must  understand 
that  the  freedom  of  man  means,  not  the 
anarchical  independence  of  the  individual,  but 
the  full  development  of  the  individual,  under 
the  term  of  the  self-determining  co-operation 
of  all  the  individuals  in  the  society,  which 
exists  for  all,  and  whose  function  it  is  to 
preserve  and  achieve  the  fullest  development 
of  each. 

Political  freedom  was  the  first  aspiration  of 
men  under  the  terms  of  the  new  apprehensions 
of  human  nature ;  the  revolution  which  has 
established  constitutional  or  democratic  govern- 
ment in  the  civilised  world  was  not  founded 
merely  on  the  incapacity  or  injustice  of  the  old 
governing  classes,  but  at  least  as  much  upon 
the  fact  that  first  the  middle  classes,  and  then 
the  great  slave  class  which  survives  in  the 
modern  world  as  the  proletariat,  have  become 
conscious  of  the  fact  that  they  are  men  and 
not  children,  men  and  not  mere  slaves ;  and 
that  for  good  or  evil,  whether  in  the  indi- 
vidual life,  or  in  the  life  of  society,  men 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM 


197 


must  determine  their  own  fates ;  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Labour  party  in  England  and  in 
the  other  civilised  countries  is  only  the  most 
recent  phase  in  the  development  of  the  claim 
that  men  shall  govern  themselves. 

Men  demand  freedom  in  society,  not  merely 
because  without  it  there  is  no  security  for 
good  government,  but  because  without  freedom, 
without  self-determination,  a  man  is  not  a 
man ;  the  demand  for  political  freedom  rests 
upon  the  gradual  apprehension  of  a  principle 
which  is  true  in  religion  and  in  philosophy. 

But  the  demand  for  political  and  social  free- 
dom after  all  rests  upon  a  great  assumption, 
the  assumption  of  equality.  As  long  as  it  was 
possible  for  great  thinkers  like  Aristotle  to 
argue  that  men  were  naturally  and  funda- 
mentally unequal,  it  was  impossible  to  assert 
that  men  deserved  freedom.  The  Aristotelian 
defence  of  slavery  rested  upon  the  argument 
that  only  some  men  possessed  reason  in  such  a 
sense  as  to  be  capable  of  self-government,  self- 
determination,  while  the  rest  possessed  only 


198 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


enough  reason  to  be  able  to  follow  it  in  others. 
The  Aristotelian  theory,  although  contradicted 
by  some  contemporary  thinkers,  rested  upon  the 
observation  of  the  actual  contrast  between  the 
Hellenic  and  the  Oriental  nations,  and  was 
not  wholly  unreasonable.  Aristotle  thought 
he  saw,  did  actually  see,  that  the  Oriental  in 
his  intellectual  and  in  his  political  life  was 
servile,  unfree. 

But  Aristotle  was  none  the  less  completely 
wrong,  and  we  can  recognise  the  source  of  his 
mistake  without  any  difficulty.  He  looked 
only  at  the  actual,  the  existing  temper  of  the 
barbarian ;  he  did  not  take  account  of  his 
potential  capacities.  He  took  the  existing 
fact  for  an  eternal  fact.  And  within  two 
centuries  his  theory  was  blown  to  the  winds 
by  the  experience  of  the  Hellenic  world. 
These  naturally  unreasonable  Orientals,  these 
barbaric  Westerns  proved  themselves  to  be 
capable  of  learning  what  the  Greek  had  to 
teach,  and  one  barbaric  race  proved  to  be  the 
superior  of  the  Greek  in  the  great  art  of 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM  199 


government.  The  Aristotelian  doctrine  of  the 
fundamental  inequality  of  human  nature  was 
reduced  to  an  absurdity  by  the  experience  of 
the  Macedonian  and  Roman  Empires ;  and 
the  later  philosophic  systems  of  the  ancient 
world  accordingly  repudiated  it  with  an  em- 
phasis which  the  most  modern  revolutionary 
has  not  surpassed  ;  and  the  great  phrases  of 
Cicero  and  Seneca  are  re-echoed  in  the  Roman 
jurisprudence.  The  intense  nationalism  of  the 
Jews,  which  also  had  expressed  itself  in  the 
parallel  doctrine  of  the  indifference  of  God  to 
all  outside  of  the  privileged  nation,  had  been  in 
some  measure  corrected  by  the  insight  of  the 
great  prophets  who  had  seen,  with  more  or  less 
clearness,  that  all  human  nature  was  related 
to  God.  When  Jesus  Christ  therefore  and 
His  Apostles  proclaimed  the  doctrine  that  all 
men  are  equally  capable  of  the  Divine  life,  of 
union  with  God  in  Christ,  they  were  ratifying 
the  experience  of  the  world. 

And  when  Robert  Burns  threw  the  whole 
humane  doctrine  of  the  Revolution  into  "  A 


200  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


man's  a  man  for  a'  that,"  he  was  re-stating  for 
Christian  men  their  own  truth,  their  own 
doctrine,  the  foundation  of  their  conception 
of  life,  the  doctrine  of  the  equal  dignity,  the 
equal  moral  capacity,  the  equal  value  of  human 
nature. 

This  doctrine  of  equality  is  the  fundamental 
Christian  doctrine  of  human  nature,  and  it  is 
also  the  first  spring  of  the  revolt  of  the  pro- 
letariat. Freedom  is  a  great  word,  but  the 
claim  of  freedom  rests  upon  equality,  and 
freedom  is  the  method  of  realisation  of  equality. 
A  freedom  which  merely  reduces  human  life 
to  a  blind  struggle  between  forces  has  no  rela- 
tion to  equality,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  denial  of  it. 
Equality  demands  the  substitution  of  the 
"  common  control  "  of  the  self-governing  com- 
munity for  the  licensed  domination  of  force. 

Christianity,  therefore,  unites  with  Socialism 
in  demanding  such  an  organisation  of  society 
as  will  provide  the  equal  children  of  God 
with  the  opportunity  of  making  real  their 
fundamentally  equal  capacity  for  the  highest 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM 


201 


forms  of  human  life.  Christianity  denounces 
with  Socialism  the  conditions  of  life  which 
impoverish,  which  brutalise  human  nature. 
Christianity  denounces  with  Socialism  that 
organisation  of  industrial  society  which  makes 
the  vast  majority  of  mankind  little  better  than 
the  instruments  of  profit  for  the  small  minority 
who  hold  in  their  hands  the  means  of  production. 

There  are  some  persons  so  ignorant  of  history, 
so  unconscious  of  the  nature  of  the  civilisation 
in  which  they  live,  as  to  say  that  this  doctrine 
of  equality  may  be  very  pleasant  in  sound, 
but  that  it  is  in  contradiction  to  the  hard  facts 
of  every-day  life,  which  take  no  account  of  it. 
These  good  people  forget  the  elementary  facts 
of  the  society  in  which  they  live,  are  ignorant 
of  the  first  and  elementary  principles  of  the 
constitutional  organisation  of  our  own  great 
country,  do  not  understand  that  the  constitu- 
tional machinery  of  the  English  state  has  been 
built  up  upon  this  very  principle  of  the  equal 
right  of  all  citizens  before  the  law,  and  of  the 
equal  capacity  of  all  citizens  to  take  their  share 


202  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

in  the  "  common  control."  It  is  just  because 
we  recognise  that  equal  capacity  gives  all  men 
an  equal  right  to  a  share  in  political  authority 
that  we  have  slowly  built  up,  through  the 
labour  of  a  thousand  years,  the  political 
liberties  of  the  English  people.  These  persons 
say  that  equality  is  a  Utopian  dream  !  It 
is  really  the  foundation  of  the  elementary 
political  organisation  of  the  civilised  world  ; 
and  those  races  or  nations,  like  the  Russian, 
which  refuse  to  recognise  this,  do  so  only 
because  they  are  still  more  than  half  barbaric 
and  savage. 

If  the  people  of  our  country  are  equal  to  the 
burden  of  their  own  great  national  destiny,  is 
there  really  any  person  who  will  seriously 
contend  that  they  are  not  equal  to  take  their 
share  in  the  common  control  of  the  industrial 
machinery  of  society  ? 

But,  again,  the  Christian  Church  proclaims 
brotherhood  as  the  first  principle  of  the  cohesion 
and  co-operation  of  men  in  society ;  brother- 
hood, co-operation,  and  not  competition ;  and 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM  208 

what  Christ  said,  nineteen  hundred  years  ago, 
the  French  Revolution  has  placarded  on  the 
streets  and  public  buildings  of  France ;  and 
the  modern  socialist  proclaims  it,  with  a  new 
emphasis  and  a  new  significance,  for  he  urges 
that  it  is  exactly  the  competitive  character  of 
industrial  society  which  is  the  main  cause  of 
the  miseries  and  inequalities  of  the  material 
conditions  of  human  life.  The  Christian  must 
agree  with  the  socialist  in  condemning  an 
organisation  of  society  which  runs  counter  to 
the  great  principle  of  the  Christian  life,  the 
principle  that  men  are  bound  together  in  the 
one  body  of  Christ,  and  are  bound  to  strive 
as  much  for  the  good  of  their  fellows  as  for 
their  own.  That  is,  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
compels  us  to  condemn  an  organisation  of 
society  in  which  men  are  compelled  to  be 
enemies  of  each  other,  in  which  man  is  set 
against  man,  and  class  against  class. 

Here,  again,  our  friends  who  claim  to  be  the 
representatives  of  common-sense  interpose  with 
the  argument,  that  while  it  may  be  lamented 


204  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


that  human  life  is  governed  by  competition 
rather  than  by  brotherliness,  this  is  an  in- 
exorable necessity  of  human  circumstance, 
that  brotherhood  or  co-operation  is  a  merely 
Utopian  conception,  and  has  no  relation  to  the 
actual  world.  But  surely  this  is  to  ignore  the 
actual  facts  of  the  development  of  civilised 
society,  to  ignore  the  elementary  principles 
which  govern  the  structure  and  which  have 
determined  the  progress  of  the  political  organ- 
isations of  the  West.  The  serious  student  of 
the  history  of  institutions  is  always  aware  of 
the  fact  that,  behind  the  infinite  complexity 
of  the  progress  of  the  constitutional  machinery, 
there  lies  the  perpetual  effort  of  men  to  find 
such  a  reasonable  order  as  will  secure  the  due 
and  harmonious  co-operation  of  the  various 
elements  which  constitute  a  political  or  national 
society,  which  will  secure  that  the  individual 
forces  may  not  run  riot  in  a  blind  and  endless 
struggle  against  each  other,  but  may  be  so 
co-ordinated  as  to  serve  to  the  well-being  and 
progress  of  the  whole  society.    The  primitive 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM  205 


group,  whether  the  horde  or  the  family  or  the 
clan,  was  held  together  by  the  operation  of 
instinctive  and  hardly  reasoned  impulses  of 
affection  or  tradition.  The  original  group, 
whatever  it  was,  represented  a  unity  of  co- 
operating individuals.  Gradually  this  uncon- 
scious or  instinctive  co-operation  passed  away, 
but  the  larger  aggregations  of  the  political 
societies  of  history  are  not  based  upon  the 
destruction  of  the  principles  of  co-operation ; 
they  also  are  co-operative  associations,  but 
their  co-operative  character  has  to  be  main- 
tained and  developed  by  means  of  a  deliberate 
and  determined  effort  to  find  the  methods  and 
forms  under  which  this  may  be  secured.  The 
history  of  the  organisation  of  the  modern 
Western  nations  can  only  be  rightly  appre- 
hended as  a  gradual  development  of  the 
methods  of  co-operation. 

All  these  principles  of  liberty,  of  equality, 
of  co-operation  are  summed  up  in  the  great, 
the  supreme  principle  of  organised  society,  the 
principle  of  Justice.     If  Christian  men  are 


306 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


asked  to  join  the  socialist  in  his  denunciation 
of  the  modern  industrial  system,  it  is,  above  all, 
because  the  industrial  system  is  organised  upon 
the  principle  of  force  and  not  of  justice,  because 
it  flaunts  and  sets  at  nought  the  first  principle 
of  political  morality,  as  well  as  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  the  Christian  conception  of  the  relation 
of  man  to  man. 

The  conditions  which  determine  the  remun- 
eration of  the  wage-earner  are  conditions 
governed  by  force,  not  by  justice.  It  is 
economic  weakness  which  compels  the  wage- 
earning  class  to  accept  individually  so  small  a 
share  in  the  total  product  of  industry  ;  while  it 
is  his  economic  power  which  enables  the  owner 
of  capital,  often  with  hardly  any  labour  on  his 
own  part,  to  take  so  large  a  share.  If  it  is 
true  even  of  the  artisan  that  his  share  is  so 
small  because  of  his  economic  weakness,  this 
is  still  more  evidently  true  of  that  great  class 
whose  wages  are  only  just  above  the  minimum 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  life,  and  of 
that  large  class  which  cannot,  as  a  matter  of 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM  207 


fact,  earn,  through  the  labour  of  the  proper 
wage-earner  of  the  family,  enough  to  maintain 
the  family.  This  class  is  compelled  to  eke  out 
its  miserably  insufficient  wage  by  driving  out 
into  the  labour  market,  first  its  women,  the 
wives  and  mothers  of  the  labourer,  and  then 
its  children,  not  only  when  they  prematurely 
leave  school,  only  half-developed,  not  yet 
physically  capable  of  labour,  and  therefore  to 
grow  up  again  into  a  new  generation  of  under- 
paid labour,  but  even  its  little  children  before 
they  have  left  school,  stealing  from  them, 
owing  to  their  miserable  necessities,  the  few 
hours  of  play  and  even  the  necessary  hours 
of  sleep. 

It  is  force  and  not  justice,  blind,  monstrous, 
inhuman  force  which  governs  industrial  society. 
It  is  as  though  the  industrial  classes  were  the 
prey  of  some  blind  giant  who  holds  in  his 
clutches  the  lives,  the  honour,  the  souls  of 
men  and  women  and  children.  And  we  must 
change  this.  We  must  find  some  means 
by  which  we  may  subject  these  economic 


208  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


forces  to  the  principles  of  justice,  some  means 
by  which  we  may  substitute  a  reasoned  and 
moral  order  for  the  blind  collision  of  unmoral 
forces.  The  history  of  civilised  society  is  the 
history  of  the  continuous  effort  to  compel  the 
strong  to  respect  the  needs,  the  rights  of  the 
weak,  to  substitute  justice  for  force  as  the  de- 
termining principle  of  the  political  order ;  and 
what  we  have  striven  to  do,  and  in  some 
measure  have  succeeded  in  doing  in  the  poli- 
tical order,  we  must  carry  out  in  the  industrial. 

I  would  end  as  I  began,  the  Liberal  movement 
in  religion  and  theology  must  pass  from  the 
merely  critical  and  destructive  phase  to  the 
effort  after  construction,  to  the  apprehension 
of  the  positive  truths  of  God  in  Christ  redeem- 
ing the  world,  on  which  the  religious  life  of  men 
is  to  be  nourished  ;  it  was  necessary  to  throw 
aside  what  seemed  to  be  superstition,  to  vindi- 
cate the  liberty  of  the  religious  temper ;  but  it 
is  upon  positive  faith  that  men  live,  and  the 
Christian  faith  is  the  faith  of  the  union  of  man 


SOCIAL  LIBERALISM  209 


with  the  life  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  His 
Son. 

And  so  also  in  the  political  and  social  or 
economic  sphere,  it  is  not  enough  to  vindicate 
the  principle  of  liberty,  or  rather  it  is  necessary 
that  we  should  understand  that  liberty  is  found 
not  in  anarchy  but  in  the  just  order.  For  the 
true  development  of  the  individual  is  not  found 
in  the  isolation  of  the  separate  life ;  but  only 
under  the  terms  of  some  real  unity  between 
the  individual  life  and  the  universal ;  man  does 
not  become  human  as  he  separates  himself  from 
God,  or  from  his  fellows,  but  only  as  he  enters 
into  communion  with  the  life  of  God  and  with 
the  lives  of  his  brother  men. 


PAST  LIBERALISM 

BY 

THE  MASTER  OF  THE  TEMPLE 

It  will  be  some  time  yet  before  any  attempt 
can  be  made  to  write  the  history  of  the  Liberal 
movement  which  took  place  within  the  Church 
of  England  during  the  nineteenth  century. 
That  movement  has  already  passed  through 
more  than  one  phase  of  development,  and  it 
may  be  that  further  transformation  lies  before 
it.  Who  shall  venture  just  now  to  forecast 
its  future  ?  Even  in  its  relation  to  the  past 
we  cannot  yet  see  it  in  its  true  perspective. 
Its  history,  when  written,  will  have  to  exhibit 
its  connection  not  merely  with  contemporary 
English  politics,  but  with  the  corresponding 
intellectual  and  religious  movements  in  other 
European  countries.   In  this  briefest  of  sketches 

210 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


211 


no  attempt  can  be  made  to  trace  such  influences, 
or  even  to  summarise  results,  except  provision- 
ally. It  must  be  content  merely  to  state  a 
few  facts  about  a  few  personalities,  now  per- 
haps not  so  well  known  as  they  used  to  be, 
such  as  may  be  found  in  the  biographies  of  the 
time  or  can  be  supplied  by  the  memory  of 
living  people.  No  inconsiderable  share  in  the 
movement  has  been  taken  by  lay  members  of 
the  Church,  but  the  work  done  by  the  clergy 
themselves  has  been  still  more  important, 
and  this  alone  can  be  treated  in  the  allotted 
space. 

i 

Before  me,  as  I  write,  lies  a  printed  copy  of 
a  sermon  on  Toleration,  preached  by  Sydney 
Smith  at  the  Temple  Church  in  1807,  just 
before  the  anonymous  publication  of  the  Peter 
Plymley  Letters.  This  date  may  serve  for  a 
starting-point.  Sydney  Smith  cannot,  indeed, 
take  rank  as  one  of  the  great  leaders  of  modern 
Liberal   Churchmanship.     His  theology  re- 


212  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

fleeted  the  school  of  Paley,  while  his  ecclesi- 
astical views  are  indicated  by  the  epigram  that 
he  regarded  the  Established  Church  as  a 
branch  of  the  Civil  Service.  But  he  belonged 
to  a  generation  which  was  beginning  to  face 
the  question  whether  men  ought  to  be  put 
under  disabilities  because  they  did  not  belong 
to  the  Anglican  Church,  and  on  that  question 
he  did  good  pioneer  work.  The  Plymley 
Letters  were  issued  twenty-two  years  before  Dr 
Arnold  and  Bishop  Stanley  published  their 
pamphlets  on  Roman  Catholic  Emancipation. 
It  is  this  priority  which  gives  Sydney  Smith 
his  importance.  We  sometimes  forget  now 
what  the  position  of  Roman  Catholics  and 
other  Nonconformists  was  before  Emancipa- 
tion. In  the  land  of  their  birth  they  were 
virtually  to  a  great  extent  aliens.  Political 
and  municipal  office,  sometimes  even  pro- 
fessional careers,  were  closed  to  them.  An 
annual  Indemnity  Act  alone  secured  to  them 
the  elementary  rights  of  citizenship.  Re- 
strictions hampered  their  marriages  and  their 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


21S 


funerals.  They  could  not  send  their  sons  to 
the  Universities.  Their  loyalty — very  possibly 
with  justice — was  suspected  by  the  Govern- 
ment, while  their  beliefs  were  disliked  and 
despised  by  a  compact  mass  of  public  opinion 
around  them.  We  all  know  what  has  hap- 
pened since  1807.  Let  us  remember  the  debt 
of  gratitude  due  to  that  small  minority  of  the 
English  clergy  which  for  many  years,  under 
much  discouragement,  fought  the  battle  of 
religious  freedom  against  Church  privilege. 

Generations  are  somewhat  vague  measures 
of  time,  but  as  we  look  back  over  the  past 
century  we  may  roughly  distinguish  three  gen- 
erations of  Liberal  leaders  among  the  clergy 
of  the  Anglican  Church.  (1)  What  may  be 
called  Arnold's  generation  ranges  from  Sydney 
Smith,  born  in  1771,  to  Arnold  himself,  born 
in  1795,  and  Baden  Powell,  born  in  1796. 
Its  work  was  mainly  done  before  1842 — 
when  Arnold  died.  (2)  The  generation  of 
F.  D.  Maurice  and  Arthur  Stanley  succeeded, 
and  carried  on  its  work  into  the  seventies  or 


214  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


later.  The  birth  dates  of  H.  B.  Wilson, 
Maurice,  Pattison,  Stanley,  Colenso,  Robert- 
son, Jowett,  Rowland  Williams,  Charles 
Kingsley  and  Temple,  all  fall  within  eighteen 
years  (1803-1821).  A  later  group  within  this 
generation  includes,  among  others,  Farrar  and 
Hatch,  and  at  least  one  surviving  veteran.  (3) 
The  work  of  the  last  thirty  years  has  been 
chiefly  done  by  men  who  are  still  living,  and 
cannot  be  treated  here. 

Arnold  is  unmistakably  the  central  figure 
of  his  generation,  but  with  him  may  be 
named  two  other  fellows  of  Oriel, — Whately, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  Hamp- 
den, afterwards  Bishop  of  Hereford.  Nothing 
marks  more  clearly  the  intellectual  pre- 
eminence of  the  Oriel  common-room  in  those 
days  than  the  fact  that  out  of  it,  within 
a  few  years,  proceeded  the  guiding  spirits  of 
two  great  parties  in  the  Anglican  Church. 
Unlike  Newman  and  his  colleagues,  Arnold 
had  little  influence  at  Oxford  and  organised 
no  systematic  movement.    A  small  group  of 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


215 


Liberal  clergy  at  Cambridge,  described  by 
Dean  Stanley  as  "  equal  rather  than  like," 
included  Thirlwall,  afterwards  Bishop  of  St 
David's,  Whewell,  and  Sedgwick.  Arch- 
deacon Julius  Hare  was  on  terms  of  friend- 
ship with  Arnold,  and  another  Cambridge 
friend  was  Dean  Stanley's  father,  who,  when 
appointed  Bishop  of  Norwich,  nominated 
Arnold  to  preach  his  consecration  sermon. 
Requested  by  the  Primate  to  find  another 
preacher,  the  Bishop  refused,  and  the  sermon 
was  preached  by  one  of  the  Archbishop's 
chaplains.  Arnold's  unpopularity  among  the 
clergy  was  then  (1837)  at  its  height.  Shortly 
before  his  death,  when  he  returned  to  Oxford 
as  professor  of  history,  animosities  had  softened, 
and  he  was  received  with  more  cordiality. 
Had  he  survived  Newman's  secession,  his 
influence  might  have  become  greater,  though 
never  commanding.  What  would  have  been 
his  attitude,  if  he  had  lived  longer,  towards 
the  Biblical  Criticism  which  was  beginning 
to  assert  itself  in   Germany  ?     His  letters 


216  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

contain  a  hostile  reference  to  Strauss,  whose 
Lebe?i  Jesu  was  published  in  1835.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  following  Niebuhr  he  had 
accepted  in  germ  the  principles  of  modern 
criticism.  His  position  at  Rugby  did  not 
actually  hamper  his  freedom  of  thought,  but 
some  collision  was  inevitable.  A  vehement 
article  on  the  Hampden  controversy,  which 
Stanley,  then  an  undergraduate,  deplored, 
nearly  brought  about  the  censure  of  his 
Governing  Body  and  his  consequent  resigna- 
tion. This  would  have  been  a  pity,  from  a 
party  point  of  view,  for  though  his  work 
absorbed  energies  which  might  otherwise  have 
been  spent  on  ecclesiastical  and  theological 
questions,  Rugby  was  a  Liberalising  element 
in  the  country.  Arnold's  strong  personality, 
coupled  with  the  deep  spiritual  sensitiveness 
which  his  diary  discloses,  created  among  his 
pupils  a  special  type  of  character,  broad-minded 
and  religious.  "  One  of  Arnold's  men  "  was  a 
common  phrase  at  the  Universities  in  those 
days.    The  fact  that  Stanley  and  others  be- 


PAST  LIBERALISM  217 

came  his  spiritual  heirs  did  much  to  lessen 
to  the  Liberal  party  in  the  Church  the  loss 
suffered  by  Arnold's  premature  death. 

The  generation  which  followed  had  more 
than  one  leader.  In  the  forefront  of  a  re- 
markable group  of  Liberal  churchmen,  stands 
F.  D.  Maurice,  who  was  only  ten  years  younger 
than  Arnold.  We  all  remember  Kingsley's 
description  of  Maurice  as  "  the  most  beautiful 
human  soul"  that  he  had  ever  met.  That 
moral  and  spiritual  beauty,  coupled  with  a  rest- 
less energy  and  great  intellectual  subtlety, 
exerted  a  deep  influence  on  his  generation. 
Maurice  was  in  no  sense  a  party-leader.  His 
son  tells  us  that  he  thought  parties  in  the 
Church — sectarianism  of  any  kind — an  evil  so 
grave  that  nothing  could  excuse  the  organisa- 
tion of  a  new  party.  He  occupied  therefore, 
and  was  content  to  occupy,  an  isolated  position. 
For  all  his  genuine  humble-mindedness  he  was 
singularly  independent  in  forming  his  opinions. 
If  it  is  true,  as  Stanley  said  after  his  death, 
that  every  wave  of  thought  which  passed  over 


218  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Europe  left  its  mark  on  Maurice's  mind  and 
spirit,  it  is  also  true  that  he  was  little  in- 
fluenced by  other  men.  As  he  was  no  party- 
leader,  so  he  was  no  party-follower.  He  was 
no  respecter  of  persons.  He  could  not  always 
see  eye  to  eye  with  men  whose  opinions  were 
often  confounded  with  his  own  by  the  outside 
world.  The  breadth  of  "  Broad  Churchmen  " 
(a  term  which  he  disliked)  often  seemed  to 
him  to  be  narrowness.  He  criticised  Arnold 
freely.  Even  with  Julius  Hare,  his  loved 
brother-in-law,  he  felt  that  he  was  not  in  com- 
plete accord  about  the  position  of  the  English 
Church.  His  personal  regard  and  admiration 
for  Stanley  were  great,  but  their  views  on 
many  points  were  wide  apart.  With  Kingsley 
he  was  in  closer  though  not  complete  touch  ; 
but  he  had  to  part  company  with  Sterling, 
and  he  felt  bound,  at  the  cost  of  great  distress 
of  mind,  to  express  disapproval  of  his  old  friend 
Colenso.  With  the  academic  type  of  Liberal- 
ism he  had  little  in  common.  From  Jowett 
he  said  that  he  differed  almost  as  widely  as 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


219 


from  Mansel.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  this  diver- 
gence from  friends  and  natural  allies,  he  stood 
by  each  in  turn  at  times  of  unpopularity  and 
persecution.  Not  so  much  because  he  had 
himself  suffered,  but  for  the  sake  of  religious 
freedom  he  championed  causes  which  he  could 
not  always  approve.  He  protested  against 
the  claim  of  the  Bishop  of  Cape  Town  to 
exercise  spiritual  jurisdiction  over  Colenso ; 
he  had  a  controversy  with  Pusey  about  the 
persecution  of  Jowett ;  he  was  full  of  indigna- 
tion at  the  attacks  on  Robertson  after  the 
publication  of  his  Life  and  Letters.  It  was 
not,  perhaps,  always  easy  for  Maurice's  friends 
to  understand  his  position.  He  felt  himself 
that  he  was  liable  to  be  "  disclaimed  as  a  muddy 
mystic."  But  the  spirit  which  animated  his 
life  has  borne  much  fruit  since  his  death.  He 
represents  that  interesting  and  important  type 
of  Liberal  Churchmanship  which  clings  with 
loyalty  to  disputed  doctrines  and  sees  new 
depths  of  meaning  in  the  old  formularies. 
Few  people  could  have  personally  known 


220  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Pattison  and  Jowett  in  their  later  years  with- 
out feeling  in  how  real  a  sense  their  theological 
opinions  were  part  of  them.  As  one  listened 
to  their  talk  that  thought  was  constantly 
present  in  the  background.  The  religious  his- 
tory of  their  lives  had  been  very  different. 
Jowett's  point  of  view  had  altered  but  little. 
Pattison 's  theology  had  gradually  shaped  itself 
out  of  a  widening  philosophical  outlook.  He 
has  himself  traced  the  process  in  his  outspoken 
Memoirs.  For  some  ten  years  he  had  been 
under  Newman's  influence ;  and  when  that 
influence  ceased,  in  1845,  there  was  a  strong 
reaction  from  the  effect  of  what  he  afterwards 
called  "  the  clerical  virus."  We  trace  the  trend 
of  his  mind  through  the  years  which  followed 
in  his  mention  of  a  course  of  lectures  attended 
by  him  at  Heidelberg,  the  aim  of  which  was 
to  unite  the  utmost  liberty  of  philosophical 
thought  with  Christian  dogma.  "  Slowly  and 
in  many  years "  he  passed  "  to  that  highest 
development,  where  all  religions  appear  in 
their  historical  light."    One   result   of  the 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


221 


storm  that  raged  over  Essays  and  Reviews  (to 
which  his  own  contribution  was  a  solid  piece 
of  historical  investigation)  was  that  he  deliber- 
ately gave  up  writing  on  theology  and  church 
history.  We  have  thus  lost  a  series  of  studies 
on  the  movement  of  theological  sentiment  in 
modern  Europe,  such  as  he  alone  could  have 
produced.  The  sermons  which,  on  rare  occa- 
sions, he  preached  before  the  University,  in- 
teresting as  they  were,  did  not  compensate 
for  this.  General  literature,  however,  gained 
what  theology  lost.  Pattison's  special  con- 
tribution to  Anglican  Liberalism  was  the  ideal 
of  learning  which  he  held  before  the  Church. 
He  had  not  the  gifts  needed  for  building  up 
an  ecclesiastical  policy  or  for  the  practical 
adjustment  of  conflicting  beliefs.  His  attitude 
towards  life  was  critical  rather  than  con- 
structive. His  influence  was  not  so  much 
widely  diffused  as  intense  in  its  effect  on  a 
certain  type  of  temperament.  The  pessimism 
and  cynicism  which  he  never  concealed, 
though   stimulating  to    some    minds,  were 


222 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


certainly  distasteful  to  others.  But  his  brilliant 
intellect  and  a  magnetic  power  in  his  manner 
impressed  everyone,  and  in  his  insistence  on 
the  importance  of  a  scientific  theology  to  the 
Church  of  England  he  did  work  that  was 
needed. 

The  contrast  between  Jowett  and  Pattison 
was  strongly  marked.  Jowett's  influence  was 
wider,  his  religious  teaching  was  more  direct 
and  human,  and  the  genial  cynicism  which  in 
his  later  years  sometimes  gave  savour  to  his 
talk  was  tempered  not  merely  by  his  optimism 
but  by  his  real  natural  piety.  He  never,  like 
Pattison,  viewed  the  Church  of  England  with 
a  dispassionate  air,  as  though  from  outside. 
One  of  his  biographers  even  describes  him  as 
seeing  in  the  Church,  could  she  but  know  the 
things  belonging  to  her  peace,  the  best  hope 
for  the  future  of  Christianity.  No  doubt 
Jowett's  interpretation  of  Church  reform,  and 
his  conception  of  the  meaning  of  Christianity, 
would  have  been  rejected  by  the  majority  of 
his  clerical  contemporaries ;  but  his  views — 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


228 


difficult  as  it  might  be  to  put  them  into  de- 
finite and  systematic  shape — appealed  to  suc- 
cessive generations  of  young  men  at  Balliol 
and  elsewhere,  with  results  which  are  still 
traceable  in  the  Church.  This  was  largely 
due  to  the  force  of  his  personality.  He  was 
like  no  other  man  in  his  silences  and  pithy 
sayings.  His  influence  was  naturally  aug- 
mented by  the  ignoble  persecution  carried  on 
for  many  years,  which  few  people  now  would 
probably  attempt  to  excuse.  The  "  heretical  " 
essays  on  The  Atonement  and  The  Interpre- 
tation of  Scripture  raised  questions  on  which 
there  has  since  been  a  decided  advance  of 
thought  among  churchmen  of  unquestioned 
orthodoxy.  This  fact  justifies  Jowett's  own 
statement  about  the  essays  that  their  chief 
interest  was  that  they  came  a  little  before  their 
time.  None  the  less  the  iron  entered  into  his 
soul.  With  all  his  courage  and  tenacity  of 
purpose  he  had  a  sensitive  nature,  and  the 
thought  that  words  written  in  the  cause  of  truth 
and  justice  had  been  received  as  heretical  and 


224 


ANGLICAN  LIBER AI -ISM 


mischievous  doctrines  caused  him  lasting  pain. 
There  seems  much  truth  in  the  view  that  if  the 
essays  had  been  received  with  greater  fairness 
and  charity,  "the  positive  side  of  his  con- 
victions would  have  gained  strength  through 
sympathy,  and  he  would  have  put  forward  his 
conclusions  as  the  development  and  extension 
of  received  truth,  not  as  a  criticism  upon  its 
previous  expression."  The  "  Life  of  Christ," 
which  Jowett  had  hoped  to  write,  remained  an 
unfulfilled  project ;  and  it  is  from  the  sermons 
of  his  later  life,  delivered  in  Balliol  Chapel  and 
Westminster  Abbey,  that  we  have  to  gather 
his  final  message  to  his  generation.  A  study 
of  them  shows  more  deflniteness  of  belief  than 
many  people  are  apt  to  attribute  to  him, 
though  his  religious  teaching  will  perhaps  live 
mainly  in  the  form  of  aphorisms.  Its  force  at 
present  is  certainly  far  from  spent.  Many 
thoughtful  people  still  find  it  a  help  to  recall 
the  spirit  in  which  he  dealt  with  modern 
difficulties — a  spirit  which  finds  its  expression 
in  his  prediction  fifty  years  ago  that  "  the  criti- 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


225 


cisms  of  the  present  day  will  at  first  be  felt  as 
a  blow  to  faith,  but  they  will  issue  in  its  fuller 
establishment;  all  that  is  important  will  sur- 
vive." His  theological  position  has  been  called 
a  compromise  between  his  critical  instincts 
and  his  religious  feeling.  But  it  is  perhaps  a 
truer  view  which  regards  him  as  taking  "  high 
rank  among  the  Whigs  of  Religion — among 
those  who,  Conservatives  in  the  true  sense, 
have  averted  revolution  by  making  timely 
concessions." 

Kingsley,  as  a  young  man,  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  Maurice  in  his  attempt  to  promote 
Christian  Socialism,  and  retained  through  life 
the  warmest  admiration  for  his  "  master." 
When  Yeast  was  on  the  point  of  appearing, 
his  comment  on  it  was  :  "  I  think  this  will  ex- 
plain a  good  deal  of  Maurice."  But  Kingsley 's 
great  literary  gifts  and  his  variety  of  interests 
forbid  his  being  classed  as  a  mere  follower  of 
Maurice.  Rarely  has  a  man  been  more  many- 
sided.    He  was  the  Chartist  parson  of  1848, 

the  "  Parson  Lot "  who  sympathised  so  passion- 

15 


226 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


ately  with  working  men,  the  author  of  Alton 
Locke.  "  He  was  a  layman  in  the  guise  or  dis- 
guise of  a  clergyman,"  said  Stanley,  alluding 
to  the  keenness  of  his  love  of  sport.  He  was  a 
student  of  natural  history,  with  a  firm  belief  in 
the  truth  of  Evolution  and  in  the  duty  of  the 
clergy  to  face  scientific  facts.  He  was  poet, 
novelist,  and  history-professor.  He  was  a  good 
parish  priest  and  a  great  preacher.  His  vehe- 
mence of  spirit  led  him  into  exaggerations  and 
mistakes,  such  as,  e.g.,  his  controversy  with 
Newman,  but  he  has  been  rightly  placed  among 
the  conspicuous  teachers  of  his  age.  In  spite 
of  the  strength  of  his  convictions,  Kingsley, 
like  Maurice,  was  not  a  party  man.  He  once 
described  himself  as  "an  old-fashioned  High 
Churchman."  Was  this  description  meant 
seriously  ?  It  is,  at  any  rate,  at  variance  with 
the  pride  which  he  took  in  belonging  to  the 
Church  of  England  as  by  law  established. 
"  These  words  he  was  never  tired  of  quoting," 
says  one  who  knew  him  well.  His  sermons 
at  Westminster  Abbey,  at  the  close  of  his  life, 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


227 


attracted  many  people  who  were  more  or  less 
outside  the  Church  of  England ;  but  neither 
in  politics  nor  in  theology  during  those  later 
years  could  he  be  reckoned  as  an  advanced 
Liberal.  His  religious  influence  was  in  the 
main  a  personal  one,  and  will  not  perhaps 
survive  the  generation  which  hung  upon  his 
words,  though  some  of  his  writings  will 
certainly  have  a  longer  life. 

This  short  list  of  selected  names  must  close 
with  that  of  Stanley.  The  son  of  a  Whig 
Bishop,  the  pupil  of  Arnold,  owing  much  to 
Julius  Hare,  of  whom  he  speaks  after  Arnold's 
death  as  his  "  living  instructor,"  the  intimate 
friend  of  Jowett  from  his  undergraduate  days 
and  of  Maurice  soon  afterwards,  Stanley  was 
early  equipped  for  his  life  work.  Before  he 
was  thirty  he  had  published  his  biography  of 
Arnold.  A  year  or  two  later,  in  his  sermons 
on  The  Apostolical  Age,  he  had  publicly 
declared  himself  in  favour  of  applying  the 
methods  of  historical  criticism  to  the  Bible. 
His  Commentary  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Cor- 


228  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


inthians  followed,  a  companion  work  to 
Jowett's  edition  of  St  Paul's  Epistles,  though 
very  different  in  treatment.  By  the  time  he 
was  forty  he  was  recognised,  along  with  Maurice 
and  Jowett,  as  a  leader  of  the  Liberal  move- 
ment in  the  Church, — later,  perhaps,  as  the 
commander-in  chief.  For  this  position  Stanley 
had  special  gifts,  which  became  more  strongly 
marked  as  time  went  on.  He  knew  everybody 
and  loved  to  bring  together  at  Oxford  and 
Westminster  people  of  different  and  even 
antagonistic  views.  He  could  not  indeed 
persuade  Liddon  or  Pusey  or  Keble  to  preach 
at  the  Abbey,  but  his  social  charm  kept 
him  on  cordial  terms  with  many  men  who 
detested  his  opinions.  After  the  excitement 
of  a  debate  in  Convocation  in  which  he 
had  fought  almost  single-handed,  he  would 
entertain  his  antagonists  at  luncheon  with  irre- 
sistible courtesy.  No  embitterment  of  dispute 
seemed  to  lessen  his  width  of  sympathy.  There 
were  few  Church  controversies  in  his  day  in 
which  he  did  not  play  a  leading  part.  The 


PAST  LIBERALISM  229 

wonder  was  that  his  frail  physique  could  stand 
the  constant  strain.  The  censure  of  Tract  90 
and  the  degradation  of  W.  G.  Ward,  the  later 
Hampden  agitation,  the  Gorham  question, 
Colenso,  Essays  and  Reviews,  Ritualism,  the 
Athanasian  Creed,  Inspiration,  Clerical  Sub- 
scription, the  Voysey  trial — such  were  some  of 
the  subjects  to  which  he  contributed  speeches, 
letters,  and  articles.  He  by  no  means  took  on 
all  these  topics  what  is  ordinarily  termed  the 
"  Liberal  "  view.  He  disliked  the  purely  nega- 
tive character  of  Colenso 's  criticism  ;  he  dis- 
approved of  two  of  the  essays  in  Essays  and 
Reviews,  to  which  work  he  had  himself  refused 
to  contribute  ;  he  had  not  the  slightest  sym- 
pathy with  the  point  of  view  of  Mr  Voysey, 
who  acted  throughout  in  defiance  of  his  advice. 
But  he  defended  them  all  when  they  were 
attacked,  not  merely  from  a  chivalrous  sense 
of  justice  to  individuals,  but  because  he  felt 
bound  to  resist  every  attempt  to  narrow  unduly 
the  comprehensiveness  of  the  National  Church. 
"  A  dogmatist  in  his  abhorrence  of  dogma  and 


230  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


a  bigot  against  intolerance,"  he  detested  the 
spirit  of  combination  for  party  purposes  which 
was  at  the  bottom  of  these  alternate  persecu- 
tions by  High  Church  or  Low  Church.  His 
fearless  advocacy  of  freedom  of  inquiry  in 
Biblical  study  was  part  of  the  same  policy  of 
comprehensiveness.  He  was  not  afraid  that  in 
the  long-run  free  inquiry  would  prove  to  be 
merely  destructive.  "For  minds  constituted 
on  the  same  historical  basis  as  his  own,"  says 
his  biographer,  "though  criticism  destroyed 
much,  it  created  more :  if  it  cut  away  some 
grounds  of  faith  it  refilled  the  chasm  with  more 
stable  foundations."  His  opponents  could  not 
feel  this  faith  in  the  future.  Pusey  wrote 
frankly  to  him  in  1864  :  "  I  believe  the  present 
to  be  a  struggle  for  the  life  or  death  of  the 
English  Church,  and  what  you  believe  to  be 
for  life,  I  believe  to  be  for  death."  Against 
this  we  may  set  Maurice's  estimate  of  Stanley's 
work.  "  Why,"  asked  a  friend,  "  are  things 
tolerated  in  Stanley  which  could  not  be  par- 
doned in  anyone  else  ? "    "  Because,"  was  the 


PAST  LIBERALISM  231 

reply,  "  Stanley  has  done  more  to  make  the 
Bible  a  reality  in  the  homes  of  the  people  than 
any  living  man." 

ii 

Sydney  Smith,  Arnold,  Maurice,  Pattison, 
Jowett,  Kingsley,  Stanley — we  cannot  but  be 
struck  with  the  diversity  of  the  men  and  of 
the  views  which  they  represent.  Had  the  list 
been  extended,  as  it  well  might  have  been, 
this  would  have  become  still  more  evident. 
Though  they  were  animated  by  a  more  or  less 
common  spirit,  not  one  of  them  agreed  on 
all  points  with  any  of  the  rest.  They  differed 
not  merely  in  details  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  but 
still  more  in  the  relative  importance  which 
they  attached  to  different  questions.  That  is 
only  another  way  of  saying  that  the  Liberal 
movement  within  the  Church  has  been  a  highly 
complex  one.  It  presents  a  tangled  skein 
of  theological,  ecclesiastical,  and  social  issues, 
the  separate  threads  of  which  need  to  be 
traced  and  drawn  out.     The  following  is  an 


232  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


extremely  brief  summary  of  the  lines  along 
which  thought  has  been  moving  during  the 
first  seventy  years  or  so  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

1.  Toleration. — The  policy  of  concession 
which  during  this  period  relieved  Noncon- 
formists of  most  of  their  disabilities  was  in- 
augurated by  the  Test  and  Corporations  A  ct  of 
1828  and  by  Roman  Catholic  Emancipation 
in  1829.  Subsequently  relief  was  extended 
to  the  Jews.  Legislation  dealt,  among  other 
points,  with  church-rates,  with  the  burial 
question,  and  with  the  permission  to  sub- 
stitute affirmation  for  oath.  By  the  abolition 
of  tests  in  1871,  the  Universities  were  opened 
to  non-members  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Some  of  us  remember  what  alarmist  predic- 
tions were  expressed  at  Oxford  at  the  time. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  religious  influences  are  far 
stronger  in  the  University  now  than  they 
were  thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 

2.  Christian  Socialism. — Liberal  Churchmen 
have,  of  course,  no  claim  to  the  exclusive 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


233 


possession  of  this  idea,  nor  is  it  an  essential 
article  of  their  creed  ;  but  during  the  Chartist 
Movement  of  1848  and  the  years  which 
followed,  Maurice,  Kingsley,  and  others  made 
great  efforts  to  guide  the  opinions  of  the 
working  classes,  and  to  promote  a  type  of 
socialism  on  the  lines  of  Christian  brother- 
hood. Their  work  failed  to  achieve  all  that 
they  had  hoped.  They  succeeded,  however, 
in  getting  an  Act  passed  in  1852,  which  gave 
a  legal  status  to  co-operative  bodies,  and  the 
Working  Men's  College  at  Great  Ormond 
Street,  since  transplanted  to  Crowndale  Road, 
N.W.,  has  been  the  parent  of  many  similar 
institutions. 

3.  Comprehensiveness. — The  conception  of  a 
comprehensive  National  Church — so  dear  to 
Arnold  and  Stanley — had  a  twofold  bearing 
on  the  ecclesiastical  situation.  On  the  one 
hand,  as  put  forward  by  them,  it  involved 
a  theory  of  the  Established  Church  which 
almost  identified  it  with  the  State,  though 
from  this  view  Maurice  and  others  would 


234 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


certainly  have  withheld  their  assent.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  who  desired  comprehensiveness 
were  strongly  opposed  to  the  spirit  which 
sought  to  purify  the  Church  by  driving  out 
unorthodox  opinions.  No  useful  purpose  is 
served  by  recalling  in  detail  a  most  unpleasing 
story  of  obloquy,  prosecution,  and  persecu- 
tion. Few  Liberal  leaders  escaped ;  but,  in 
spite  of  this,  they  consistently  supported 
Tractarians  and  Evangelicals  alike — Gorham, 
or  W.  G.  Ward,  or  Pusey,  as  the  case  might 
be — whenever  attempts  were  made  by  either 
party  to  drive  the  other  into  exile. 

4.  Clerical  Subscription. — Opinions  differed 
as  to  the  right  policy  on  this  question.  Arnold 
signed  the  petition  in  favour  of  relaxation 
presented  by  Whately  to  the  House  of  Lords 
in  1840,  but  was  not  enthusiastic  about  it. 
Jowett,  in  1841,  was  for  trying  to  get  the 
articles  simplified :  under  the  existing  system 
a  strict  construction  or  an  indefinite  latitude 
seemed  to  him  equally  impossible.  Kingsley, 
more  than  twenty  years  later,  "  could  sign  the 


PAST  LIBERALISM  235 

articles  in  their  literal  sense  toto  corde "  ;  he 
felt  in  himself  "  a  capacity  for  drifting  to  sea," 
which  made  him  "  cling  nervously  to  any  little 
anchor,  like  subscription."  Stanley's  letter  to 
the  Bishop  of  London,  in  1863,  led  to  the  Act 
of  1865,  subsequently  ratified  by  convocation, 
which  substituted  the  present  form  of  declara- 
tion, with  the  result  that  the  clergy  could 
no  longer  fairly  be  regarded  as  bound  to 
particular  phrases. 

5.  Theology  and  Science. — Arnold,  himself 
a  geologist,  shows  in  his  published  letters  little 
consciousness  of  the  growing  hostility  between 
physical  science  and  theology  which  marks 
our  period.  Some  of  the  earlier  crude  attempts 
at  reconciliation  were  examined  in  the  article 
on  Mosaic  Cosmogony  in  Essays-  and  Reviews. 
But  an  acute  stage  had  been  reached  before 
this  with  the  publication  of  Darwin's  Origin 
of  Species  in  1859.  The  meeting  of  the 
British  Association  at  Oxford  in  1860  brought 
about  a  dramatic  encounter  between  Huxley 
and  Bishop  Wilberforce,  in  which  the  advantage 


236 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


did  not  rest  with  the  latter.  Few  theological 
developments  are  more  remarkable  than  the 
change  which  afterwards  took  place  in  the 
attitude  of  the  Church  towards  evolution. 
Kingsley  did  something  towards  this  by  a 
lecture  at  Sion  College,  in  1871,  on  the 
Theology  of  the  Future — of  special  import- 
ance because  delivered  to  a  clerical  audience. 
Jowett  preached  in  1874  a  University  sermon 
on  the  Relations  of  Science  and  Religion. 
Aubrey  Moore,  who  belonged  to  a  later 
generation  and  died  prematurely  only  eighteen 
years  ago,  also  did  good  work.  But  the 
rapprochement  which  seems  likely  to  take  place 
between  the  theological  and  the  scientific  point 
of  view  is  in  the  main  the  work  of  living 
men. 

6.  Biblical  Criticism. — Only  the  initial  stages 
of  this  great  movement  come  within  our  pur- 
view. The  foundations  were  laid  before  1880, 
but  critical  work  in  England  had  hardly 
begun.  Both  Jowett  and  Stanley  were  early 
suspected  of  "  Germanism  "  at  Oxford,  and  the 


PAST  LIBERALISM  387 

suspicion  was  deepened  in  Stanley's  case  by 
his  sermons  on  the  Apostolical  Age,  already 
mentioned.  H.  B.  Wilson's  Bampton  Lec- 
ture, in  1851,  perhaps  made  the  first  definite 
demand  for  freedom  in  theological  inquiry. 
Then  came  Essays  and  Reviews,  with  the  essay 
by  Jowett  on  the  Interpretation  of  Scripture 
and  that  by  Rowland  Williams  on  Bunsen's 
Biblical  Researches.  Colenso's  Pentateuch, 
which  appeared  in  1862,  was  not  welcomed 
by  Maurice  and  Stanley.  Jowett  thought  its 
"  tone  a  good  deal  mistaken,"  but  felt  that  "  all 
good  persons  should  agree  in  heartily  sym- 
pathising with  the  effort  to  state  the  facts  of 
Scripture  exactly  as  they  are."  With  Mr 
Voysey,  a  few  years  later,  Jowett  could  not 
feel  the  same  sympathy.  Both  he  and  Stanley 
recommended  resignation,  but  on  Mr  Voysey 's 
refusal  they  still  gave  him  their  support. 
The  session  of  the  Committee  of  Revisers 
(1870-1884)  marks  the  dividing  line  between 
the  earlier  and  the  later  stages  of  Biblical 
Criticism. 


238  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


7.  Doctrine. — It  is  only  possible  here  to 
indicate  in  the  briefest  and  baldest  way  one  or 
two  lines  of  thought  along  which  some  develop- 
ment of  doctrine  is  traceable.  One  such  was 
as  to  the  nature  of  Inspiration.  The  prevailing 
of  the  wider  view  was  attributed  by  Jowett  to 
Colenso,  of  whom  he  wrote,  in  1882  :  "  He  has 
made  an  epoch  in  criticism  by  his  straight- 
forwardness :  no  one  now  talks  of  verbal  in- 
spiration." Another  was  concerned  with  the 
meaning  of  the  Atonement — a  discussion  with 
which  Jowett 's  own  name  is  closely  connected. 
Another  questioned  the  literal  interpretation 
of  the  phrase  "  everlasting  punishment,"  and 
with  this  inquiry  we  associate  the  names  of 
Maurice  and  Farrar.  As  far  back  as  1838, 
Arnold  wrote  to  an  old  pupil :  "  I  do  not  be- 
lieve the  damnatory  clauses  of  the  Athanasian 
Creed  under  any  qualification  given  of  them." 
There  is  evidence  of  a  widespread  movement 
of  thought  on  these  and  perhaps  on  other 
points  during  the  period  which  ends  with  1880. 
The  result  was  a  gradual  and  fairly  general 


PAST  LIBERALISM 


239 


acceptance  of  interpretations  which  set  men's 
consciences  free  from  the  moral  difficulties 
that  had  burdened  them.  Past  Liberalism 
in  these  ways  undeniably  influenced  the  de- 
velopment of  doctrine  within  the  Church. 

It  is  impossible  to  sum  up  with  any  com- 
pleteness the  work  done  by  these  past 
generations  of  Liberal  Churchmen.  The 
movement  goes  on  without  a  break,  and  can- 
not be  divided  into  sections  by  arbitrary  dates. 
To  try  to  measure  the  results  achieved  thirty 
years  ago  is  to  try  to  stand  still  just  when  the 
pace  was  accelerating.  But  some  lessons  of 
the  past  are  obvious,  however  little  they  are 
laid  to  heart — few  perhaps  more  so  than  the 
danger  and  mistake  of  religious  panics.  It  was 
a  critical  time  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
when,  within  a  few  years,  Darwin's  Origin  of 
Species-,  Colenso's  Pentateuch,  and  Essays  and 
Reviews  were  all  violently  denounced  as  de- 
structive of  Christianity.  The  quiet  courage 
with  which  Jowett  and  Stanley  continued  to 
point  out  that  truth  had  nothing  to  fear  from 


240 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


free  inquiry  saved  the  situation.  Before 
Jowett's  death  the  tide  had  begun  to  turn. 
The  Broad  Churchmen  of  those  early  fighting 
days  were,  as  a  rule,  of  a  robust  type,  which  was 
not  always  beyond  criticism.  They  were  some- 
times too  frankly  Erastian  to  suit  modern  views. 
They  sometimes  let  crotchets  interfere  with 
united  action.  Under  the  stress  of  controversy 
they  sometimes  took  too  little  trouble  to  ap- 
preciate their  opponent's  case.  But  many  of 
them  had  qualities  which  their  successors 
would  do  well  to  carry  on — reverence  in  hand- 
ling the  Bible,  carefulness  not  to  go  beyond 
what  the  evidence  warranted,  readiness  to 
face  attack,  a  firm  trust  in  the  permanent 
basis  of  religion,  and  great  spirituality  of  life. 
Nor  was  it  the  least  among  their  good  services 
that,  by  occupying  an  intermediate  space  be- 
tween the  two  extreme  parties,  they  prevented 
England  from  becoming,  like  Belgium,  a 
battle  ground  on  which  men  have  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  join  the  ranks  of  either  the  Noirs 
or  the  Rouges. 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  Professor  CALDECOTT 

How  far  are  our  brethren  of  the  Evangelical 
Churches  which  we  in  England  call  Noncon- 
formist and  they  are  preferring  to  call  Free 
Churches  animated  by  the  Liberal  spirit  in 
theology  and  in  organisation  which  this  volume 
represents  ?  For  they,  too,  know  the  differ- 
ence between  Conservatism  and  Liberalism  in 
religion ;  they  have  amongst  them  those  who 
are  tenacious  of  the  past,  timid  as  to  the  future, 
and  those  who  are  somewhat  loosening  from  the 
past  and  eager  to  try  vistas  as  yet  unmarked. 
The  greater  communities,  with  which  alone 
space  permits  me  to  deal,  are  the  Methodists, 
the  Congregationalists,  the  Baptists.  I  should 
like  to  include  the  Presbyterians,  but  the  un- 
mistakeable  connection  of  Presbyterians  with 

'2A1  16 


242  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


the  churches  in  Scotland  gives  their  history  a 
somewhat  different  centre  of  reference  from 
that  of  the  purely  English  churches  ;  and  within 
the  narrow  compass  of  these  pages  I  think  that 
concentration  on  the  problem  as  it  stands  in 
England  is  my  best  course.  Nor  am  I  able  to 
take  the  wider  range  which  would  be  open  if 
the  situation  in  the  Colonies  and  in  America 
could  be  included  :  this  would  be  necessary  for 
a  complete  survey  of  the  situation  ;  but  the 
problem  must  be  limited,  and  I  set  it  simply 
as  it  stands  between  us  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  English  Congregationalists, 
Baptists,  and  Methodists.  Perhaps  a  brief 
study  of  the  situation  in  England  will  yield 
suggestions  for  wider  inquiries. 

In  order  to  trace  recent  history,  limitation 
of  the  number  of  issues  to  be  considered  is 
imperative,  and  I  have  selected  the  following 
five : — Holy  Scripture,  Future  Punishment, 
the  relation  of  Christians  to  the  World,  the 
relation  of  Christianity  to  other  Religions,  and 
Church  Polity. 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  243 


I.   HOLY  SCRIPTURE 

1.  The  attitude  to  Holy  Scripture  is  of 
paramount  importance  to  churches  which  are 
accustomed  to  regard  it  as  the  only  source 
of  Divine  knowledge,  and  therefore  as  the 
sole  seat  of  authority  in  religion.  We  must 
ask  how  they  regard  it  both  as  to  the  nature 
of  its  authority  and  as  to  its  structure.  Fifty 
years  ago  this  momentous  prerogative  was 
assigned  to  the  Bible  as  a  book  ;  it  was  regarded 
as  not  only  containing  the  Word  of  God,  but 
as  itself  being  that  Word.  It  was  in  1852  that 
one  of  the  leading  intellects  of  Congrega- 
tionalism, Henry  Rogers,  wrote  the  Eclipse 
of  Faith,  in  which  he  expressly  contended  that 
a  Book-revelation  is  quite  possible,  is  very  use- 
ful, and  is  in  analogy  with  God's  dealing  with 
man  in  other  ways.  This  is  the  defence  which 
Hutton  of  the  Spectator  called  "the  Hard 
Church  "  :  it  was  also  the  method  of  Archdeacon 
Lee  in  the  Bampton  Lecture  of  1854.  In  a 
mood  far  removed  from  Hard  Churchism  in 


244  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


most  other  ways,  the  reliance  on  the  book  alone, 
in  its  totality  and  in  its  uncriticised  structure, 
animated  the  conservatism  of  the  great  preacher 
Charles  Spurgeon.  He  could  form  no  other 
conception  of  an  authoritative  Word  of  God  ; 
to  quit  this  was  to  go  "  down-grade  "  towards 
scepticism.  As  for  criticism,  he  avers,  "  We 
will  have  a  whole  Bible  or  no  Bible  "  ;  and  he 
has  no  glimpse  of  the  possibility  of  a  revision 
of  its  structure  which  would  be  other  than 
destructive.  In  colleges  and  in  pulpits  the 
Bible  was  then  usually  taken  not  only  as  infal- 
lible authority  for  doctrine  of  God,  but  also 
as  consisting  of  communications  to  its  writers 
of  knowledge  of  events  past,  contemporary, 
and  future ;  in  important  places,  at  least,  the 
communication  extended  to  words,  audible  and 
articulate.  And  so  clear-cut  was  it  as  a  miracle, 
that  reasons  were  offered  as  to  why  inspiration 
had  ceased  with  its  writers  and  the  enunciation 
of  the  Divine  message  had  totally  closed. 

One  of  the  earliest  signs  of  change  in  high 
quarters  appears  in  the  First  Principles  of 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  245 


Baldwin  Brown,  published  in  1881  :  he  saw 
that  change  was  impending,  and  for  himself  is 
content  to  claim  that  the  revelation  of  God  is 
in  the  Bible.  In  a  Symposium  arranged  by 
the  Homiletic  Magazine  (1884)  there  appear 
further  indications  of  emergence  from  the 
"  hard  "  position.  M'Kennal  of  Bowdon  trans- 
fers the  expression  "  Word  of  God  "  from  the 
book  to  its  contents  ;  Edward  White  carries 
this  into  detail :  it  is  the  constituents  of  the 
Bible,  and  not  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  on  which 
we  are  to  rely  :  and  further,  as  regards  revela- 
tion, history  is  distinguished  from  doctrine. 
Gradually  it  was  learned  by  Congregationalists 
that  the  hard  view  was  not  really  the  view  of 
the  greater  Reformers,  but  a  method  adopted 
some  generations  afterwards  by  men  seeking 
for  a  definite  external  authority,  in  face  of 
the  external  authority  claimed  by  the  advocates 
of  the  Roman  theory  of  the  Church. 

Turning  to  Congregationalist  leaders  to-day, 
we  find  that  Dr  Garvie  takes  the  witness 
of  Christian  experience  as  the  proof  of  that 


246  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


authoritativeness  of  what  the  Bible  contains, 
reducing  all  to  this.  Dr  Adeney  considers  the 
inner  witness  of  the  Spirit  to  be  the  Bible's 
own  method  of  proof :  the  external  methods  are 
"  artificial,"  of  Rabbinic  kindred  :  the  internal 
witness  is  the  "  scientific  "  as  contrasted  with 
the  "  orthodox  "  standpoint ;  and  his  colleague 
at  the  Lancashire  Independent  College.  Dr 
Robert  Mackintosh,  takes  the  same  line.  Dr 
Forsyth  thinks  that  to  base  religion  on  the 
infallibility  of  a  book  is  a  method  which  is  sure 
to  lead  to  Rome.  The  manifesto  of  the  twenty 
Congregationalist  leaders,  issued  in  February 
of  this  year,  says  that  the  Bible  is  God's  book, 
because  it  "  enshrines  "  His  revelation  in  Christ 
and  the  Gospel.  The  lay  Chairman  of  the 
Congregational  Union  in  the  current  year,  after 
stating  the  inner  witness,  says  of  the  older  view 
that  it  was  due  to  a  temporary  necessity  for 
strong  banks  for  the  channel  of  revelation,  but 
that  now  the  stream  has  "  broken  bounds  "  and 
"is  spreading  into  a  broad  delta  of  mani- 
festation." 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  247 


As  to  the  structure  of  the  Bible,  Dr  Bennett, 
Dr  Gray,  Dr  Bartlet,  and  other  principal 
teachers  in  the  Congregationalist  colleges, 
now  stand  almost  solidly  with  Dr  Driver  for 
the  Old  Testament,  and  with  the  scholars  of 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  and  Scotland  for  the 
New  Testament. 

For  the  Baptists,  Mr  Henderson,  Principal 
of  Bristol  College,  pleads  for  the  retention 
of  the  authority  of  the  written  word  as  well  as 
the  resort  to  the  inner  witness  of  Scripture  and 
the  general  experience.  But  Dr  Clifford  ex- 
pressly renounces  the  proof  from  the  book 
itself  as  conceived  fifty  years  ago,  and  stands 
upon  "  the  massed  experiences  of  Christian 
men."  This  change  he  considers  to  be  the 
principal  reform  in  Christian  apologetic  made 
since  the  Reformation.  He  accepts  develop- 
ment within  the  Bible,  but  does  not  specify 
what  scholars  he  follows. 

For  the  Methodist  churches,  the  Fernley 
lecturer  of  1881  (F.  J.  Sharr)  rejected  the 
appeal  to  spiritual  judgment  of  the  contents 


248  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

of  the  Bible  as  too  subjective,  and  the  resort 
to  degrees  of  inspiration  as  dangerously 
going  back  towards  the  allegorism  of  Maim- 
onides.  He  wholly  rejected  Kuenen  and  Well- 
hausen's  reconstructions,  and  predicted  speedy 
oblivion  for  them,  taking  his  stand  with 
Ellicott  and  the  Aids  to  Faith  conservatism. 
In  1892,  again,  the  Fernley  lecturer  (Mar- 
shall Randies),  with  Driver  and  Dale  and 
Gore  and  Sanday  in  view,  rejects  their  posi- 
tions and  argues  for  the  traditional  structure 
of  the  Bible.  He  disallows  appeal  to  the 
witness  of  experience :  if  the  written  book  is 
not  authoritative,  he  does  not  see  how  authority 
could  come :  "  minus  the  record,  how  is  there 
any  message  ? "  He  detects  even  in  Dale  a 
dangerous  tendency  to  substitute  ideas  for 
history. 

But  when  we  turn  to  the  Methodist  leaders 
of  to-day  we  find  appeals  to  the  inner  witness 
and  to  the  testimony  of  mankind  (advocated 
by  Dr  Beet  in  1884)  now  in  possession  in 
high  places.    As  to  structure,  in  the  London 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  249 


Quarterly  Review  of  January  1908,  Dr  Davi- 
son shows  us  much :  he  does  not  profess  to 
defend  the  scientific  accuracy  of  Genesis,  the 
universality  of  the  Deluge,  or  the  literal  history 
of  the  book  of  Jonah,  and  "  cannot  close  his 
eyes"  as  to  the  composite  nature  of  the  Gospels. 
Further,  he  does  not  feel  bound  to  accept  "the 
psychology  of  St  Paul  in  detail,"  nor  to  hold 
that  "  the  Pauline  type  of  teaching  is  the  only 
one  discernible  "  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
general  view  of  the  Bible  recommended  to 
candidates  for  the  ministry  is  that  which  is 
expressed  in  the  teaching  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge.  The  theologian  of  the  Primitive 
Methodists,  Dr  Peake  of  Manchester,  frankly 
accepts  the  reshaping  of  the  Old  Testament 
by  Kuenen  and  Wellhausen,  and  regards  the 
Messianic  prophecies  not  as  specific  predic- 
tions but  as  the  expressions  of  a  religious 
patriotism  which  is  looking  forward  to  a 
righteous  nation. 

In  Wales,  if  we  may  for  the  moment  associ- 
ate with  English  Methodists  the  largest  Welsh 


250  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Church,  the  Calvinistic  Methodists,  it  was 
stated  in  1898,  by  two  of  their  leaders,  the 
late  Principal  Edwards  and  Mr  J.  Owen,  that 
the  "  alarm  "  caused  by  the  new  critical  views 
"  has  somewhat  subsided,"  and  that,  though 
"  misgiving  "  is  still  felt  by  many,  not  a  few 
have  publicly  accepted  the  new  positions,  and 
that  "  their  number  is  probably  increasing/' 

II.   FUTURE  PUNISHMENT 

In  the  total  view  of  the  Future  Life  we  are 
not  in  a  position  to  test  accord  as  between 
Liberal  Nonconformists  and  Liberal  Church- 
men, for  we  do  not  profess  to  have  attained 
a  common  doctrine  ourselves.  But  there  are 
two  particular  features  which  I  think  we  should 
now  expect  to  find  in  any  theology  which  we 
could  call  Liberal,  viz.  ( 1 )  acknowledgment  that 
as  to  the  ultimate  future  of  sinners  there  is 
room  for  diversity  of  opinion,  and  (2)  inability 
to  accept  torment  as  the  prominent  feature  of 
punishment. 

Unqualified  statements  of*  the  old  doctrine 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  251 

still  abound  ;  but  fifty  years  ago  they  prevailed 
not  only  among  Christians  of  small  education 
but  among  thoughtful  and  pious  leaders.  In 
some  of  the  principal  pulpits  of  the  Church  of 
England  the  eloquence  of  a  Henry  Melvill  was 
employed  to  express  the  unmitigated  gloom 
and  misery  of  an  endless  Hell.  In  the  chief 
Congregationalist  pulpit  in  Yorkshire  lamen- 
tations over  the  inevitable  calamity  of 
the  lost  were  wrung  from  the  refined  and 
generous  mind  of  Robert  Hamilton  of  Leeds. 
But  as  in  the  Church  of  England  so  among 
Congregationalists  emergence  from  these  fore- 
bodings of  gloom  was  arising.  Dr  Pye  Smith, 
from  whose  mind  definitions  and  dogmas  flowed 
in  copious  streams,  yet  paused  here,  and 
qualified  his  following  of  Calvin  by  the  quiet 
declaration  that  Calvin  should  have  kept  to 
the  positive  side  of  his  doctrine,  the  future 
of  the  elect,  and  not  have  professed  to  know 
so  much  of  the  condition  of  the  lost ;  it  was 
Calvin's  "  chief  fault "  to  treat  Reprobation  and 
Punishment  as  if  they  were  as  clearly  revealed 


252  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

to  us  in  the  Christian  dispensation  as  Election 
and  Salvation  are. 

In  the  reaction  some  Congregationalists  pro- 
ceeded not  to  claim  freedom  but  to  offer 
definite  counter-doctrines  in  the  forms  of 
Conditional  Immortality  or  of  Universalism. 
Notable  was  the  vehement  advocacy  of  the 
former  as  "life  in  Christ"  only,  by  Edward 
White,  accepted  by  Dale.  Universalism  was 
advanced  chiefly  in  America,  but  it  had  its 
advocates  among  English  Congregationalists, 
notably  Baldwin  Brown. 

To-day  what  we  find  is  the  claim  to  be  at 
liberty  to  decline  the  formulation  of  a  definite 
view.  We  find,  for  example,  that  Dr  Garvie 
does  not  agree  that  either  Conditionalism  or 
Universalism  is  disclosed  in  Scripture ;  he  is 
for  continuity  as  between  this  life  and  the 
next,  and  cannot  see  more  than  that.  Dr 
Adeney  thinks  that  in  the  New  Testament  the 
continuance  of  the  impenitent  is  contemplated, 
but  that  it  also  contains  hints  of  possible 
destruction,  and  also  suggestions  of  Universal- 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  253 


ism,  especially  in  St  Paul's  writings,  and  that 
the  only  Punishment  thought  of  may  be  cor- 
rective in  its  nature.  Dr  Morgan  Gibbon  is 
more  definite  as  to  Punishment :  he  holds  that 
it  cannot  be  torment  and  that  it  cannot  be 
everlasting.  In  the  February  manifesto  of  the 
twenty  Congregationalist  leaders  all  definition 
on  this  head  is  avoided  :  the  reference  made  is 
limited  to  the  broad  word,  "  ruin."  Dr  Tymms, 
late  Principal  of  Rawdon  Baptist  College,  holds 
that  the  infliction  of  a  penal  suffering  which 
prolongs  sin  is  inconceivable ;  and  that,  while 
we  cannot  prove  either  Conditionalism  or, 
Universalism  to  be  the  means,  yet  the  ultimate 
extermination  of  sin  is  "  rooted  in  a  necessity 
of  the  Divine  nature." 

The  W esleyan  Methodists  still  print  in  their 
Catechisms  selections  of  the  severer  texts,  and 
leave  them  in  isolation  from  others  of  different 
bearing,  and  the  inference  seems  to  be  that 
this  method  still  prevails  in  their  preaching 
and  teaching.  Dr  Beet,  we  know,  has  long 
laboured  for  freedom :  he  does  not  find  either 


254 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Conditionalism  or  Universalism  proved  in 
Scripture,  yet  he  is  unable  to  express  Future 
Punishment  in  the  old  way.  The  reception 
of  his  efforts,  as  appeared  in  the  published 
account  of  the  Conference  in  which  they  were 
debated,  indicates  that  the  Wesleyan  Church  is 
not  yet  prepared  to  follow  his  lead. 

Among  Primitive  Methodists,  whatever  be 
the  attitude  of  the  main  body,  their  foremost 
teacher,  Dr  Peake,  publicly  announces  that  "  he 
has  broken  "—nay,  he  says  "  we  have  broken 
— "  with  very  much  in  the  old-fashioned  views": 
he  pleads,  like  Dr  Garvie,  for  continuity  be- 
tween this  life  and  the  next,  and  thinks  that 
the  difficulties  against  Universalism  have  been 
exaggerated. 

In  the  Free  Church  Catechism  composed  by 
representatives  of  Congregationalists,  Baptists, 
and  Methodists  (with  others),  it  is  the  omis- 
sions, on  this  as  on  some  other  great  issues, 
which  are  noteworthy.  Attention  is  confined 
to  the  destiny  of  believers :  the  destiny  of 
believers  is  a  dogma,  but  neither  penal  suffer- 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  255 


ing  nor  any  means  of  the  ultimate  victory  of 
righteousness  is  alluded  to.  The  implica- 
tion rather  lies  in  the  direction  of  Conditional 
Immortality  being  the  doctrine  underlying 
the  agreement  to  confine  dogmatic  expression 
to  the  future  of  believers  ;  but  perhaps  it  is 
more  true  to  the  situation  to  consider  that 
freedom  of  belief  as  to  the  future  of  the  im- 
penitent is  the  intention  of  the  Catechism. 

III.  THE  CHURCHES  AND  THE  WORLD 

It  will  not  be  gainsaid  that  the  Nonconformist 
churches  of  fifty  years  ago  shared  with  the 
Evangelicals  in  the  Church  of  England  the 
view  that  the  aim  of  religion  was  to  bring  men 
out  of  an  opposing  world.  The  world  was 
regarded  as  under  hostile  powers :  its  business 
was  at  best  a  temporal  necessity,  its  amuse- 
ments were  anti-spiritual :  a  line  between  the 
secular  and  the  religious  was  very  sharply 
drawn.  Even  public  affairs  were  not  looked 
upon  as  very  becoming  for  souls  engaged 
above  all  things  in  preparation  for  eternity. 


256 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Parliament  was  perhaps  worthy,  with  the 
Army  and  Navy  and  Civil  Service.  But  local 
government  was  mainly  in  the  hands  of  men 
who  had  no  hearts  for  religion,  and  it  had  fallen 
into  the  degradation  which  excited  the  satire 
of  Thackeray  and  the  detestation  of  Dickens. 
As  Dr  M'Kennal  put  it,  "  There  were  humane 
men  and  women,  beautifully  humane,  among 
both  the  rich  and  the  poor ;  but  of  humanity 
in  legislation  and  administration  we  never 
heard."  For  human  feeling  the  outlet  was 
charity,  and  that  was  a  fountain  which  never 
ran  dry :  but  it  was  individualistic  in  its  con- 
ception, and  the  churches  as  such  exhorted 
to  its  exercise,  but  took  little  organised  part 
in  it  themselves. 

Two  other  essays  in  this  volume  draw 
attention  to  the  change  of  attitude  that  has 
come  over  the  Church  of  England  :  how  does 
it  stand  with  the  Nonconformist  Churches  ? 

In  the  first  place,  their  leading  theologians 
now  mark  with  emphasis  the  ethical  and  social 
character  of  the  Gospel.     It  has  profound 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  257 

concern  with  the  world :  it  must  enter  into 
the  secular  domain,  ethically  even  if  not 
politically,  and  permeate  its  life  with  Christian 
principles.  References  are  scarcely  necessary  : 
the  way  in  which  Dr  Fairbairn  draws  his  philo- 
sophy of  the  Christian  religion  to  a  culmina- 
tion in  an  ethical  mission  is  followed  up  by 
Dr  Garvie  in  his  brief  but  forcible  presenta- 
tion of  what  is  "the  Gospel  for  to-day."  The 
manifesto  of  the  Twenty,  when  it  has  defined 
the  Church,  immediately  adds  that  to  it  "  is 
committed  the  task  of  transforming  the  world, 
morally  and  socially,  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God." 

A  Baptist  thinker,  Mr   Medley,  late  of 

Rawdon  College,  claims  that  "it  is  surely 

possible  for  a  Christian  man  to  be  at  home 

and  free  in  every  sphere  of  human  interest, 

and  to  find  all  sacred."    No  one  can  think  of 

Methodism  as  ever  avoiding  the  world  in  the 

sense  of  leaving  it  un appealed  to,  yet  it  was 

rather  as  a  call  to  men  to  come  out  of  the  evil 

that  its  leaders  conceived  their  message.  Now, 

17 


258 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Hugh  Price  Hughes'  impetus  is  everywhere : 
his  successor  at  the  West  London  Mission, 
Mr  Rattenbury,  says  that  the  world  itself  is  to 
be  conquered :  "it  is  impossible  to  read  the 
Gospels  fairly  without  saying  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  better  social  order  was  at  least 
part  of  the  programme  of  Jesus  Christ."  The 
range  of  the  new  Methodist  hymn  -  book 
(1904)  illustrates  the  change :  the  scope  of 
the  hymns  for  public  worship  has  been  enlarged 
from  the  region  of  inward  and  personal  ex- 
perience to  the  expression  of  the  Christian 
experience  in  nature,  in  common  human 
affairs,  and  in  national  life. 

In  the  actual  work  of  the  Nonconformist 
churches  signs  of  this  change  are  on  every 
hand.  A  great  instance  of  its  coming  upon 
us  was  that  work  of  Dale  in  Birmingham  which 
his  son  most  aptly  designates  "  a  Municipal 
Gospel."  Everywhere  we  see  what  have  been 
hitherto  places  of  worship,  pure  and  simple, 
with  schools  and  a  classroom  or  two  attached, 
transformed  into   "  Institutional  Churches," 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  259 

providing  for  socialities  of  most  manifold 
character:  recreation,  amusement,  literature, 
music,  and  friendly  intercourse ;  and  they  are 
designed  not  only  for  the  welfare  of  the  poor, 
but  for  the  provision  of  healthy  social  life  for 
the  young  men  and  women  for  whom  modern 
urban  life  makes  homes  less  general  than  they 
used  to  be,  and  for  the  working  classes,  who 
find  it  hard  to  establish  homes  on  sufficient 
scale  for  the  needs  of  a  wider  outlook  on  life 
than  contented  their  fathers. 

The  Free  Church  Catechism  sets  before  the 
adherents  of  those  churches  no  less  an  aim 
than  "  to  imbue  the  nation  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ."  Whether  we  take  this  as  signifying 
the  individuals  of  the  nation,  or  the  nation  in 
its  public  life,  imperial  or  local,  we  may  fairly 
say  that  in  the  Church  of  England,  as 
liberal  Churchmen  understand  it,  and  in 
these  Churches,  there  is  now  a  unanimity  of 
general  intention  which  amounts  to  identity. 


260 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


IV.   CHRISTIANITY  AND  OTHER  RELIGIONS 

The  old  concentration  on  the  Bible  closed 
many  eyes  to  the  true  features  of  the  other 
religions  of  the  world.  In  sadness  Christian 
people  thought  of  them  all  as  false,  deceptive, 
corrupting  :  as  either  idolatrous  or  rationalistic, 
and  wholly  opposed  to  the  Christian  faith. 

A  single  illustration  of  this  well-known  atti- 
tude will  suffice.  The  Fernley  lecturer  of  1884 
(Benjamin  Hellier),  in  advocating  the  "Uni- 
versal Mission  of  the  Church  of  Christ "  shows 
no  evidence  of  ever  looking  into  other  religions 
with  a  desire  to  meet  them.  The  heathen  are 
all  "in  unspeakable  misery  and  degradation." 
Specifically,  he  has  persuaded  himself  that  they 
know  "  nothing  of  peace  of  mind, — nothing 
of  holiness  "  ;  they  "  sit  in  darkness,  perishing 
with  hunger,  full  of  misery,  full  of  despair."  In 
this  uninquiring  and  unsympathetic  spirit  the 
appeals  for  missionary  effort  were  made  for 
many  years. 

We  see  a  sign  anticipatory  of  the  change  in 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  261 

this  as  in  other  things  in  Baldwin  Brown. 
He  notes  as  prevalent  in  his  own  churches 
such  a  view  as  the  above :  he  traces  it  to 
Augustinian  theology,  and  for  himself  affirms 
that  he  has  come  to  regard  it  as  "  essentially 
unchristian." 

The  Fernley  lecturer  of  1880,  Dr  Banks,  had 
seen  deeper  issues :  he  dwelt  on  "  the  danger 
of  underestimating  the  truth  in  heathen 
systems,"  and  speaks  of  Christ  making  atone- 
ment even  for  the  millions  who  pass  away  in 
ignorance  of  Him,  and  of  this  atonement 
having  effects  "in  gleams  of  truth  and  goodness" 
amongst  them.  But  he  is  cautious  ;  and,  taking 
into  account  the  rising  advocacy  of  more  gener- 
ous recognition,  he  proceeds  to  mark  the  error 
which  exaggerates  the  good  in  them  as  even 
"  more  dangerous  "  than  the  depreciation.  He 
goes  forward  again,  however,  when  he  re- 
cognises God's  presence  throughout  history, 
and  reaches  our  modern  point  when  he  states 
that  the  whole  religious  world  is  "a  prepara- 
tion for  Christianity." 


262 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


For  leaders  of  the  present  day  a  few  refer- 
ences will  be  sufficient. 

Dr  Adeney  writes  :  "  The  time  has  gone  by 
when  we  could  be  so  foolish  as  to  think  of 
honouring  Christianity  by  depreciating  what 
we  regarded  as  its  rivals.  On  the  contrary, 
we  carefully  pursue  the  choicest  thought  of 
the  world,  rejoicing  to  recognise  its  excellences." 
Mr  Compton  Rickett,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Congregational  Union  :  "  Nor  can  we  refuse  to 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  of  other  religions  clear 
echoes  of  the  voice  of  God."  Dr  Clifford 
accepts  appreciatively  their  sacred  books  and 
vindicates  the  authority  of  the  Bible  by  the 
method  of  comparison.  Among  Methodists, 
Dr  J.  H.  Moulton  of  Didsbury  College 
speaks  as  a  special  student  of  comparative 
religion  in  earlier  phases,  and  finds  himself 
quite  undisconcerted  by  the  evidence  of 
ideas  of  incarnation,  atonement,  and  resur- 
rection "  everywhere "  in  the  world's  history, 
because  he  has  learned  that  in  history  the 
Christian  revelation  of  God  has  affinities  with 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  263 


"  the  deepest  and  most  universal  instincts 
of  men." 

Professor  Geden,  of  the  Wesleyan  College, 
Richmond,  after  special  studies  in  Eastern 
religions,  writes  :  "  It  is  becoming  increasingly 
impossible,  and  I  trust  increasingly  rare,  for 
a  Christian  minister,  still  less  a  missionary  in 
foreign  countries,  to  regard  himself  as  ade- 
quately equipped  for  his  work  while  he  remains 
in  ignorance  of  the  habits  and  thoughts  of 
alien  peoples  who,  with  different  preconceptions 
and  from  different  standpoints,  have  stretched 
out  their  hands  towards  God  " ;  and  for  himself, 
he  speaks  of  his  impressions  not  only  of  the 
"haunting  picturesqueness,"  but  of  the  "deep 
religiousness  "  of  the  East. 

V.   CHURCH  POLITY 

In  the  polity  of  the  Churches  signs  of  move- 
ment towards  consolidation  are  everywhere 
apparent,  both  within  the  Nonconformist 
Churches  and  between  them.  The  old  rigid 
independency  of  the  local  congregation  began 


264  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

to  give  way  when  the  Congregational  Union 
was  founded  by  John  Angell  James  in  1831. 
Since  then  the  proportion  of  congregations  be- 
longing to  it  has  continually  increased,  and  its 
meetings  have  been  more  and  more  influential ; 
it  has  issued  a  Declaration  of  Principles,  has 
permanent  officials,  takes  note  of  colleges, 
and  is  a  centre  of  energy  and  counsel.  The 
County  Unions  exercise  a  very  important 
unifying  function  by  their  ability  to  grant  or 
refuse  "  recognition  "  to  ministers  elected  by  the 
congregations  ;  and  there  is  an  approval  im- 
plied in  the  ordination  which  would  be  with- 
held if  a  congregation  were  acting  perversely 
and  injudiciously  in  its  choice  of  its  pastor. 
These  are  potent  signs  of  the  necessity  for 
transcending  the  strictness  of  Independency. 
Again,  the  plea  made  by  the  late  Dr  Stoughton 
that  the  time  had  come  for  grouping  the  several 
congregations  in  a  town  and  adopting  muni- 
cipal boundaries  for  the  unit  area,  and  the 
affiliating  of  village  churches  to  the  larger 
churches  in  the  neighbouring  towns,  indicate 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  265 

the  widening  of  the  range  of  view.  Alexander 
Hannay  toiled  for  years  on  behalf  of  the 
national  Union.  In  1901  Dr  Joseph  Parker, 
from  the  Union  Chairmanship,  made  a  vehe- 
ment appeal  for  a  United  Congregational 
Church,  defined  as  a  unity  in  name  as  well  as  in 
fact ;  and  this  because  "  things  were  not  going 
well "  on  the  old  lines.  The  proposal  rather 
took  away  the  breath  of  many  of  the  rank 
and  file,  but  it  was  at  once  endorsed  by 
such  leaders  as  M'Kennal  and  Berry,  and  is 
at  work  in  many  minds. 

Federation  is  the  idea  which  grows  in  favour  : 
but  it  is  to  be  real.  In  the  words  of  Mr  F.  H. 
Stead,  of  the  Browning  Settlement,  "  a  visible 
and  organic  union,  which  shall  give  free- 
play  to  the  spontaneous  initiative  and  bound- 
less diversity  "  of  congregations.  Visible,  be  it 
noted ;  no  longer  remission  of  unity  to  the 
Church  invisible  :  and  organic,  no  longer  limit- 
ing the  reciprocal  influences  to  simple  expres- 
sions of  fraternal  sentiment. 

A  similar  movement  has  taken  place  among 


266  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

the  Baptists:  they  also  have  their  County 
Associations,  their  National  Union,  their  col- 
leges, their  central  offices  and  officials  ;  but  I 
understand  that  the  congregational  conception 
of  the  Church  is  retained  with  great  tenacity 
by  most  Baptists :  visible  and  organic  unity  is 
of  small  value,  even  in  ideal. 

In  Methodism  the  principal  sign  is  the  ten- 
dency towards  consolidation  by  the  closing 
up  of  subdivisions.  In  1907  three  dissident 
bodies,  the  New  Connexion  (formed  in  1797), 
the  Bible  Christians  (1815),  and  the  United 
Free  Churches,  itself  a  later  combination, 
united,  and  obtained  an  Act  of  Parliament 
sanctioning  this  so  far  as  the  various  trust 
properties  were  concerned.  These  bodies  were 
small  in  numbers,  but  they  were,  as  a  rule, 
composed  of  members  of  particular  zeal  and 
force  of  character,  and  the  achievement  of 
union  by  them  cannot  be  without  effect  on  the 
still  triple  character  of  English  Methodism. 
The  admission  of  the  laity  to  share  in  the 
government  of  the  Church  was  for  a  time  a 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  267 


dividing  principle,  but  there  is  now  no  differ- 
ence of  opinion  on  this  ;  and  it  is  not  easy  for 
outside  observers  to  see  why  the  divisions  con- 
tinue, except  for  historical  associations  (of  no 
long  growth)  and  questions  of  church-buildings 
and  properties :  certainly  the  divergences 
appear  too  slight  to  be  likely  to  resist  for  long 
the  prevailing  tendency  towards  consolidation. 
Probably  the  movement  towards  union  will 
be  still  quicker  in  the  Colonies,  and  this  will 
have  a  reflex  effect  at  home.  The  consolida- 
tion of  the  three  great  divisions  now  remain- 
ing would  be  a  very  important  step  towards 
Christian  unity.  Some  may  think  that  it 
would  tell  against  union  with  other  Churches, 
as  Methodism  would  then  be  still  stronger  to 
resist  the  general  force  of  gravitation  ;  but  at 
any  rate,  for  the  present,  the  centripetal  force 
at  work  within  its  own  borders  is  a  marked 
feature  of  the  time. 

Besides  these  movements  towards  union 
within  themselves,  the  forces  of  consolidation 
are  at  work  between  the  great  denominations. 


268  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Proposals  are  freely  discussed,  and  are  partially 
set  on  foot,  for  taking  a  town  as  a  unit  for 
Free  Churchmanship  as  a  whole.  To  prevent 
overlapping  and  waste  through  competition, 
districts  are  to  be  assigned  to  this,  that, 
or  the  other  body  according  to  local  circum- 
stances, not  according  to  doctrinal  considera- 
tions. This  amounts  to  a  sinking  of  differences 
in  the  spiritual  region  which  could  only  be  made 
possible  by  the  sense  of  overpowering  agreement 
in  fundamentals.  Similar  proposals  are  made 
for  rural  districts ;  and  for  villages  in  which 
there  are  more  chapels  than  one,  concentration 
of  work  in  various  ways  is  being  considered. 
In  fact,  we  seem  almost  in  sight  of  the  mapping 
out  of  England  into  a  second  single  system  of 
"parishes"  running  side  by  side  with  the  Church 
of  England  system,  so  far  as  these  three  great 
denominations  are  concerned. 

The  direction  of  this  movement  has  assumed 
form  by  the  formation  of  local  Free  Church 
Councils,  now  numbering  918  ;  and  a  National 
Free  Church  Council,  to  unite  them  and  or- 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  269 


ganise  their  activity.  Animated  to  some  ex- 
tent by  a  common  opposition  to  the  "  estab- 
lishment "  of  religion,  their  unifying  force  lies 
much  deeper  than  that :  it  is  positive,  forma- 
tive, constructive.  And,  on  the  whole,  it  was 
perhaps  the  most  impressive  change  for  English 
Nonconformity  as  the  nineteenth  century  was 
preparing  to  make  way  for  the  twentieth  ;  and 
it  is  now  a  settled  feature  for  their  next  stage 
of  growth. 

These  changes  in  organisation  have  naturally 
led  to  the  appreciation  of  the  need  for  an 
expressed  common  basis  of  thought  and 
doctrine.  In  spite  of  the  constitutional 
aversion  to  creeds  and  dogmas  felt  by  so 
many  Nonconformists,  they  agreed,  in  1898, 
to  issue  a  common  statement  in  the  shape  of 
a  Free  Church  Catechism :  a  momentous  step, 
inasmuch  as  it  is,  as  the  compilers  themselves 
point  out,  the  first  "  combined  statement  of 
interdenominational  belief"  since  the  days  of 
Luther  and  Zwingli. 


270  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


OUR  APPEAL 

What  is  the  situation  disclosed  by  the  brief 
survey  now  given  of  recent  movements  in 
English  Nonconformity  ?  As  Liberal  Church- 
men we  cannot  but  feel  that  we  are  witnessing 
indisputable  convergence  between  our  thoughts 
and  theirs.  On  the  construction  of  the  Bible 
and  on  the  nature  of  its  authority,  on  what 
is  of  faith  as  to  the  future  life,  on  the  duty 
of  the  Church  to  the  world,  on  the  place  of 
Christianity  among  the  religions  of  mankind, 
there  seems  to  be  practical  identity  between 
their  leaders  and  ours.  In  Church  polity  we 
see  everywhere  amongst  them  actual  move- 
ments towards  centrality  and  co-ordination, 
even  if  not  everywhere  towards  visible  and 
organic  unity.  Is  convergence  to  prevail  in 
the  region  of  important  doctrines  whilst  all 
our  activities  are  to  continue  to  run  in  channels 
which  may  be  parallel  but  which  must  on 
no  account  be  united  into  a  single  course  of 
Christian  life  and  work  ?    My  endeavour  to 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  271 


indicate  the  movements  as  they  present  them- 
selves to  my  own  observation  would  be  offered 
merely  as  a  contribution  to  history  if  I  did  not 
proceed  to  some  reflection  as  to  the  possibility 
of  a  further  convergence  such  as  I  think 
Liberal  Churchmen  have  in  their  minds.  Let 
me  therefore  now  offer  an  argument  on  the 
fundamental  feature  of  the  situation  as  between 
Liberal  Churchmen  and  Nonconformists. 

Do  the  leaders  of  Nonconformity  express 
any  desire  to  include  the  visible  and  organic 
unity  of  the  Christian  religion  in  England  in 
their  theory  of  the  Church  ?  There  are  beyond 
question  many,  represented  by  Dr  Horton, 
who  are  quite  conservative  in  their  theory  of 
Congregationalism.  Dr  Horton  still  appeals 
to  the  New  Testament  period  as  giving  us  "  a 
rounded  orb  "  of  authority  for  Church  polity, 
and  he  reiterates  his  faith  that  Congregational- 
ism was  so  authorised,  and  is  so  still.  But 
others  have  shown  a  tendency  towards  includ- 
ing the  visible  unity  of  Christians  in  their  con- 
ception of  the  very  essence  of  the  Church.  Dr 


272  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Stoughton  taught,  so  long  ago  as  1870, that  "the 
Church  is  more  than  a  combination  "  ;  Dr  Dale's 
biography  shows  his  strong  mind  moving 
stage  after  stage  away  from  individualism  and 
the  self-sufficiency  of  the  local  group.  Dr 
Adeney  is  so  strongly  for  sociality  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  possible  for  him  to  be  contented 
with  the  conception  of  a  society  defined  by 
merely  local  considerations.  Dr  Forsyth  ex- 
tends the  ground  of  appeal :  he  says  that  for 
Christian  institutions,  as  well  as  for  Christian 
ideas,  "  we  cannot  now  go  back  to  the  fountain- 
head  and  simply  ignore  the  two  thousand  years 
of  Christian  evolution  :  we  cannot  do  that  now 
in  the  matter  of  polity  "  :  though  I  must  con- 
fess that  in  another  place  of  the  same  book  his 
confidence  seems  to  fail  him  when  he  says,  "  It 
is  not  in  the  genius  of  Christianity  that  its 
essence  should  be  distilled  for  us  out  of  its 
whole  history :  the  key  is  given  in  its  source." 
Still,  we  can  perhaps  reconcile  these  statements, 
and  simply  note  that  while  he  places  the 
essence  at  the  fountain-head  he  is  determined 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  273 

also  to  attribute  vitality  and  value  to  the  later 
courses  of  the  stream.  But  Mr  Sylvester 
Home,  the  head  of  the  largest  Institutional 
Church  of  the  Congregationalists,  is  bolder  : 
he  plants  himself  on  present  efficiency  as  the 
criterion  of  polity  :  he  quotes  Hatch's  saying 
that  the  Church  in  the  twentieth  century  should 
be  "  the  Church  that  is  fittest  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  new  age,"  and  expresses  his  "  cordial 
agreement"  with  that  theory.  With  him, 
therefore,  polity  is  at  least  an  open  question. 

Now,  seventy  years  ago,  before  the  Con- 
gregational Union  came  into  existence,  the 
isolated  Independent  congregations  used  to 
vindicate  their  polity  by  appeal  to  the  New 
Testament  epoch  of  the  Church  alone ;  and 
within  that  period  the  teaching  of  St  Paul's 
later  epistles,  Ephesians  and  Colossians,  was 
little  considered.  The  ideal  unity  apparent  in 
those  epistles  and  in  the  Kingdom  as  proclaimed 
in  the  Gospels  was  obscured  by  the  isolated 
and  disconnected  character  of  the  communities 

founded  by  the  Apostles  in  the  early  missionary 

18 


274  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


period.  On  this  basis  of  reference  there  was 
a  plausible  case  even  for  an  extreme  theory  of 
Independency,  although  the  strength  of  the 
case  was  not  such  as  to  win  for  it  the  support 
of  more  than  a  minority  of  students  of  Church 
history.  But,  however  it  might  have  been 
seventy  years  ago,  and  on  the  ground  of 
appeal  then  adopted,  we  now  seriously  ask  for 
the  attention  of  the  thoughtful  supporters  of 
Independency,  or  of  such  separateness  as  ac- 
quiescence in  the  permanence  of  Methodism 
implies,  to  their  present  situation.  They 
have  themselves  changed  their  ground  of 
appeal.  As  we  have  seen  in  the  section  deal- 
ing with  their  new  view  of  the  proof  of  the 
authority  of  Scripture  itself,  they  now  appeal 
to  the  "  massed  experiences  "  of  believers  in  the 
nineteen  centuries  as  well  as  to  the  influence 
of  the  Spirit  upon  the  individual  reader  of  the 
sacred  writings.  We  claim  that  this  should 
bring  them  into  line  with  ourselves :  by  this 
appeal  we  all  show  that  we  regard  the  King- 
dom of  Christ  as  one  and  continuous,  and 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  275 

the  ministration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  still 
proceeding  in  a  manner  not  in  essence  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  His  ministration  in  the 
minds  of  the  early  disciples.  Surely,  then, 
our  ground  of  appeal  should  not  be  re- 
duced to  the  thin  stream  of  experience  of  those 
Christians  who  retained  Independency  or  local 
association  as  their  principle  of  Church  polity  ? 
We  see  sometimes  the  history  of  the  Christian 
consciousness  regarded  as  if  it  sank  into  a  marsh, 
a  thousand  years  broad,  with  only  a  few  stepping- 
stones,  such  as  Augustine,  the  Albigenses,  and 
Wyclif  before  the  Reformation,  and  after- 
wards, in  England,  showed  terra  jirma  only 
in  the  strictest  Puritans  and  the  later  Evan- 
gelicals. But  the  modern  sense  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  all  human  life,  and  the  revived 
sense  of  the  continued  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  Church  all  along  the  centuries, 
are  shared  by  the  leaders  of  the  Free  Churches 
and  by  Liberal  Churchmen  in  the  Church  of 
England.  May  we  not  now  unite  in  bringing 
to  light  the  deeper  continuity  ?  in  seeing  that 


276 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


truth  was  aimed  at  even  under  the  distortions 
of  doctrine,  and  efficiency  even  under  the 
corruptions  of  practice  and  presumptions  of 
authority  we  agree  in  lamenting  ?  We  are  as 
anxious  as  they  to  shake  free  from  obsolete 
modes  of  intellectual  expression,  from  mediaeval 
and  seventeenth-century  forms  of  Church 
government  and  regulation,  in  so  far  as  these 
belonged  to  epochs  of  thought  and  life  which 
have  passed  away.  We  agree,  for  example, 
that  the  nature  of  the  authority  proper  to 
Church  Councils  and  their  decrees  was  mis- 
conceived :  that  it  never  should  have  been  in- 
truded into  the  innermost  region  between  the 
source  of  Divine  light  in  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
soul  of  the  disciple.  We  agree  that  even  in 
their  proper  sphere,  the  ordering  of  the  public 
life  of  the  Christian  community,  Councils 
were  too  peremptory  and  dictatorial,  and  that 
they  made  woeful  error  in  ever  calling  upon 
the  secular  arm  for  the  enforcement  of  their 
decisions  upon  either  thought  or  life.  But 
we  ask  our  friends  to  believe  that  even  in  the 


NONCONFORMIST.  LIBERALISM  277 


darkest  ages  Councils,  even  of  Bishops,  honestly 
aimed  at  beneficent  objects,  and  sought  the 
assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  sincerity :  and 
dare  we  say  that  this  was  ever  wholly  withheld 
from  them  ?  We  point  now  to  the  continued 
and  increasing  practical  acknowledgment  on 
the  part  of  Nonconformists  of  the  necessity  of 
councils  and  decrees,  though  they  are  now  desig- 
nated "assemblies"  and  "resolutions."  With 
the  recent  "  declarations  of  faith,"  "  manuals 
of  principles,"  manifesto  of  "  points  requiring 
emphasis,"  and  catechisms  in  our  hands,  we  see 
evidence  that  corporate  acts  of  this  kind  cannot 
be  dispensed  with  :  that  they  are  acknowledged 
to  be  signs  of  growing  life.  If,  then,  we  refuse 
to  regard  the  corporate  action  of  the  Church 
during  the  nineteen  centuries  as  animated  by  the 
same  purpose  as  these  recent  corporate  actions, 
does  not  the  appeal  which  Nonconformists  now 
agree  with  us  in  making  to  the  continuity  and 
abiding  unity  of  Christian  experience  almost 
fall  through,  and  the  modern  apologetic  stand 
before  the  world  on  a  perilously  narrow  base  ? 


278  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


We  ask,  then,  that  those  who  are  animated  by 
the  modern  historical  sense  and  who  rely  upon 
it  as  the  witness  of  truth  and  authority,  should 
join  with  us  in  perceiving  that  this  implies  a 
greater  reality  for  the  unity  of  the  Church  than 
was  seen  fifty  years  ago.  An  ideal  unity, 
invisible  not  visible,  in  sentiment  but  not  in 
organisation,  can  no  longer  content  us.  To 
make  it  visible  and  organic,  for  ourselves  and 
in  view  of  the  waiting  world,  cannot  but  be  an 
aim  for  which  Christian  men  can  never  cease 
to  labour  and  to  pray.  Before  the  thought  of 
men  in  West  and  East  we  desire  to  present  a 
philosophy  of  the  Church  which  sets  the  One 
in  superiority  to  the  Many  ;  a  theology  which 
expands  the  doctrine  of  a  one  and  undivided 
Body  of  Christ  in  terms  that  plain  men  cannot 
mistake,  because  it  is  affirmed  of  the  Church  as 
they  can  see  it  and  not  in  recondite  and  esoteric 
significances ;  a  method  of  Society  which 
unites  in  a  common  stream  and  not  in  parallel 
channels  the  spiritual  energies  of  Christ's 
disciples.    For  the  convergences   which  we 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  279 


see  already  we  are  deeply  grateful ;  that  they 
may  pass  into  manifest  unity  as  this  century 
proceeds  must  be  our  hope.  It  is  our  differ- 
ences that  are  fading  into  the  past :  into  that 
part  of  the  past  which  was  occasional  and 
transitory.  We  feel  continuity  throbbing  with 
a  force  which  cannot  be  concealed  and  left 
underneath  the  surface.  Our  eyes  are  bright 
with  the  vision  which  Thirlwall  saw  of  "the 
Lord's  great  house,  with  earth  for  its  floor  and 
heaven  for  its  roof."  We  look  for  a  develop- 
ment of  the  Christian  religion  in  England, 
as  well  nationally  as  in  the  inner  hearts  of  men 
and  women,  that  will  at  once  embody  what  is 
best  in  a  noble  though  chequered  past,  and 
express  the  new  light  and  the  freer  energies  of 
the  time  of  hope  in  which  we  are  so  happy  as 
to  live. 


ESTABLISHMENT 

The  problem  of  the  continuance  of  the 
"  Establishment "  of  the  Church  remains  be- 
tween Liberal  Churchmen  and  Liberal  Non- 


280  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

conformists.  Not  completely  so,  of  course, 
because  many  Liberal  Churchmen  have  re- 
nounced hope  of  seeing  an  Established  Church 
continued  on  such  lines  as  their  Liberalism  can 
approve.  In  what  I  have  to  say,  therefore,  I 
only  speak  as  one  inviting  attention  to  reflec- 
tions which  the  general  principles  of  Liberalism 
prompt  in  some  minds  at  least. 

In  the  first  place  :  Is  it  not  true  that  for 
many  Liberals  what  is  rightly  objected  to  is 
not  establishment  itself,  but  the  establishment 
of  the  wrong  thing  ?  What  is  wanted  is  the 
national  recognition  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
in  the  twentieth  century  ;  what  we  have  is  the 
continuance  of  the  Church  of  the  Tudor  and 
Stuart  settlements  of  religion.  What  is  desir- 
able is  a  connection  between  the  Nation  and  the 
Church  on  broad  and  comprehensive  lines  and  in 
a  varied  and  elastic  constitution  ;  what  we  have 
is,  as  Hort  said,  a  dualism  between  Parliament 
and  two  unreformed  Clerical  Convocations. 

In  the  second  place :  We  have  to  deal  with 
a  large  mass  of  tangible  bequests  of  the  past ; 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  281 


not  to  speak  of  the  endowments,  the  cathedrals 
and  parish  churches  are  a  heritage  beyond 
price.  To  sever  the  relation  between  Church 
and  State  now  would  give  one  or  other  of  two 
lamentable  results.  The  endowments  and  the 
edifices  might  be  removed  from  the  service  of 
religion  altogether :  the  lands  and  tithes  are 
loosely  attached  to  it,  and  with  the  congenital 
indifference  of  material  property  they  could 
be  transferred  to  other  uses — a  course  which 
nothing  but  absolute  proof  of  incurable  per- 
niciousness  could  justify.  Or  else  the  time- 
honoured  places  of  worship  disposed  over  all 
pur  towns,  villages,  and  hamlets  would  be 
handed  over  to  a  portion  of  the  nation,  and 
mainly  to  that  part  of  it  which  is  most  unable 
to  accept  the  second  Reformation  now  in 
process.  In  this  latter  case,  the  inheritance  of 
the  past  would  be  in  the  hands  of  those  who, 
according  to  the  judgment  of  Nonconform- 
ists themselves,  are  more  remote  from  the 
simplicities  and  breadths  of  religion  than  the 
Church  of  England  as  at  present  situated. 


282  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


And  thirdly:  Is  it  the  right  moment  for 
dispensing  with  the  legacies  of  the  past  and 
narrowing  the  use  of  the  ancient  churches, 
when  what  is  conspicuous  before  our  eyes  is 
the  manifold  convergence  of  Christians  who 
have  hitherto  walked  apart  ?  On  the  impor- 
tant points  indicated  in  this  paper,  convergence 
among  English  Christians  is  taking  place ;  and 
there  are  other  similar  points.  Is  a  time  of  an 
increasing  agreement,  and  a  brightening  pros- 
pect of  consolidation  in  temper  and  spirit  that  is 
at  least  making  towards  a  visible  unity  which 
will  efface  the  separatism  of  the  last  three 
centuries,  the  moment  for  an  irrevocable  de- 
cision either  to  remove  endowments  from 
religion  altogether  or  to  confirm  an  unre- 
formed  part  of  the  Christian  community  in 
the  sole  use  of  the  oldest  and  most  venerable 
Houses  of  Prayer  in  the  land  ? 

I  think  that  there  is  in  the  minds  of  many, 
except  those  who  have  adopted  an  unchange- 
able conviction  that  national  action  in  religion 
is  in  its  nature  indefensible,  a  feeling  that  the 


NONCONFORMIST  LIBERALISM  283 


present  is  a  time  too  transitional,  too  deeply 
fraught  with  movement  in  theology  and  in 
social  order,  to  be  chosen  for  taking  a  step 
which  would  terminate  finally  a  connection 
between  the  nation  and  its  religion  as  old 
as  the  national  history  itself. 

And  as  against  the  temptation  to  fall  back 
on  the  line  of  least  resistance — for  abolition  is 
always  easier  than  construction,  and  even  than 
maintenance — I  would  suggest  that  it  is  possible 
that  for  England  there  may  be  a  special  call  to 
stand  firm,  and  to  lead  the  world  in  the  matter 
of  the  connection  between  the  nation  and  the 
Christian  religion.  We  need  not  follow  France, 
face  to  face  as  she  is  with  a  branch  of  the 
Church  which  refuses  to  come  out  of  Medieval- 
ism. And  we  need  not  be  content  to  learn 
lessons  of  supreme  polity  from  our  own  Colonies 
or  from  America  in  their  untried  youth.  In 
the  broad  Christianity  of  the  future,  national 
as  well  as  individualist  religion  may  still  be  pos- 
sible, and  the  demonstration  of  the  possibility 
may  be  the  high  privilege  of  the  English  nation. 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  WILLIAM  D.  MORRISON 

In  the  Protestant  Church  of  Germany  religious 
Liberalism  may  be  described  as  a  tendency  or 
group  of  tendencies :  a  widely  diffused  prin- 
ciple rather  than  a  highly  organised  ecclesi- 
astical party.  In  this  respect  it  resembles  the 
movement  of  Liberal  religious  opinion  among 
ourselves.  In  all  countries  and  among  all 
sections  of  the  Christian  Church  the  progress 
and  development  of  Liberalism  have  been 
more  conspicuously  the  result  of  the  ideas  it 
has  advocated  than  of  its  organisation  as  a 
party  within  the  Church.  As  a  party  within 
the  German  Church,  religious  Liberalism  is  not 
to  be  compared  with  the  powerful  conservative 
forces  to  which  it  is  on  many  points  opposed  ; 

284 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  285 


but  as  a  living,  vigorous  principle  permeating 
the  whole  organism  of  ecclesiastical  thought 
and  life,  it  is  probable  that  religious  Liberalism 
was  never  more  effective  than  it  is  to-day. 
If  we  examine  the  ecclesiastical  situation  in 
Germany,  we  shall  find  that  the  opponents  of 
the  Liberal  attitude  of  mind  in  religious  matters 
are  continually  making  concessions  to  it  on 
points  of  policy  and  doctrine.  They  do  not 
become  Liberals  in  name,  but  they  assimilate 
much  of  the  substance  of  Liberalism,  and  in  this 
way  perform  an  inestimable  service  in  modify- 
ing or  transforming  the  traditional  attitude  of 
mind. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  and  influ- 
ential leaders  of  the  conservative  elements  in 
the  German  Church  at  the  present  moment  is 
Professor  Reinhold  Seeberg  of  the  University 
of  Berlin.  Professor  Seeberg  has  a  wide  re- 
putation as  a  writer  on  Christian  dogma,  and 
his  work  on  the  German  Church  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  as  well  as  his  recent  lectures 
on  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity,  amply 


286  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


justify  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held.  One 
of  the  fundamental  tenets  of  religious  Liberal- 
ism in  Germany  is  that  we  must  make  a 
distinction  between  the  form  and  the  substance 
of  religious  doctrine.  It  is  not  contended  that 
the  Church  can  do  without  doctrinal  forms  in 
the  expression  of  its  religious  aspirations  and 
experiences  ;  but  it  is  maintained  that  the  out- 
ward vesture  of  religious  belief  is  not  necessarily 
an  essential  part  of  its  vital  texture.  The  form 
is  a  product  of  the  age  in  which  it  arises,  and 
is  determined  by  the  imperfect  knowledge  of 
the  time :  it  is  an  attempt  to  express  the 
permanent  contents  of  the  Christian  faith  in 
terms  conformable  to  the  prevailing  concep- 
tions of  the  world  and  man.  In  the  introduc- 
tion to  his  work  on  the  German  Church  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  Dr  Seeberg  frankly  accepts 
and  emphasises  this  principle.  He  says  that 
von  Hofmann  of  Erlangen  uttered  the  im- 
mortal phrase  for  the  present  ecclesiastical 
situation  when  he  said  that  what  is  now  needed 
is  "  a  new  way  of  teaching  old  truths."  The 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  287 

eighteenth  century,  owing  to  its  want  of 
historical  insight,  was  unable  to  distinguish 
between  the  old  truths  and  the  old  forms  in 
which  these  truths  were  clothed,  and  on  this 
account  it  rejected  both.  The  nineteenth 
century  has  succeeded  in  perceiving  this  dis- 
tinction ;  it  has  largely  recovered  the  old 
truths,  but  it  has  failed  to  find  satisfactory 
forms  for  expressing  them.  Professor  Seeberg 
with  the  Liberals  contends  that  the  old  forms 
are  dead  ;  they  cannot  be  revived.  The  great 
problem  before  the  Church  at  the  present  time 
is  the  creation  of  new  forms  for  the  old  faith 
which  are  adapted  to  the  needs  of  modern 
life.  On  this  fundamental  point  Dr  Seeberg 
is  at  one  with  his  colleague,  Professor  Harnack. 
In  an  address  recently  delivered  at  the 
University  of  Berlin  on  Protestantism  and 
Catholicism,  Dr  Harnack,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  leaders  of  German  religious  Liberal- 
ism, in  speaking  of  the  doctrinal  differences 
between  these  two  forms  of  Christianity,  stated 
that  the  time  had  come  when  the  Evangelic 


288  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Church  must  openly  declare  that  the  old 
confessions  were  not  a  law  which  the 
Church  must  endure,  but  an  inheritance  from 
the  past  which  may  be  used  with  freedom. 
It  is  significant  and  impressive  to  find  that 
a  trusted  representative  of  tradition  and  an 
eminent  representative  of  progress  should  be 
at  one  as  to  the  nature  of  the  task  which 
is  now  confronting  the  modern  Christian 
Church. 

But  it  is  only  in  an  atmosphere  of  freedom 
that  the  problem  of  finding  new  forms  for  the 
old  faith  can  properly  be  solved.  It  is  here 
that  the  point  of  cleavage  arises  between 
the  ordinary  traditionalists  and  the  Liberals, 
or,  as  some  of  them  prefer  to  call  them- 
selves, the  modernists.  The  traditionalists  as 
a  body,  unlike  Dr  Seeberg,  assert  that  the 
essence  of  Christianity  consists  in  its  dogmatic 
contents,  and  that  its  dogmatic  contents  are  to 
be  found  in  the  ecclesiastical  confessions  of  the 
past.  It  is  contended  that  the  only  people 
who  have  a  right  to  teach  in  the  parishes  and 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  289 

at  the  universities  are  men  who  are  prepared 
to  give  an  ex  animo  assent  to  the  doctrines 
contained  in  these  confessions.  The  Church 
has  no  duties  towards  Christians  who  cannot 
accept  them.  In  opposition  to  this  view  the 
Liberals  maintain  that  the  essence  of  the 
Christian  faith  does  not  consist  in  its  dogmatic 
but  in  its  religious  and  moral  contents.  It  is 
not  a  man's  theoretical  opinions  upon  points 
of  dogma  which  make  him  a  Christian,  but  the 
religious  and  moral  character  of  his  life.  The 
Christian  religion  is  not  supremely  concerned 
with  metaphysical  speculations  about  dogma, 
but  it  is  supremely  concerned  with  the  manner 
in  which  a  Christian  ought  to  live.  In  a 
pamphlet  published  by  the  oldest  of  the 
German  Liberal  societies  (the  German  Pro- 
testant Union)  it  is  stated  that  the  traditional- 
ists are  aiming  at  securing  the  supremacy  of 
one  dogmatic  system  in  the  Church,  whereas 
the  object  of  the  Liberals  is  the  free  develop- 
ment of  the  religious  life  in  all  its  varied  forms. 

A  younger  society  (the  Union  of  Friends  of 

19 


290 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


the  Christian  World)  emphasises  a  similar  point 
of  view.  We  stand,  says  this  society,  for  the 
absolute  freedom  of  theological  inquiry  and 
for  the  right  of  the  public  expression  of  its 
results.  These  are  the  indispensable  condi- 
tions of  the  development  of  evangelic  religion 
among  the  people.  We  demand  freedom  for 
our  students  of  divinity  in  the  formation  of 
their  convictions  and  the  protection  of  all  who 
are  exercising  ecclesiastical  functions  against 
the  application  to  them  of  a  rigid  interpretation 
of  the  articles  of  faith.  It  is  only  on  these 
conditions  that  the  clergy  can  enjoy  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  A  society  which  takes 
up  a  middle  position  between  the  Liberals  and 
the  Conservatives  is  equally  insistent  on  the 
need  of  liberty  (the  Evangelic  National  Church 
Union).  According  to  this  society  the  teachers 
of  theology  must  remember  that  they  exercise 
their  office  in  the  sendee  of  the  Church.  But 
it  is  in  the  interests  of  the  Church  itself  that 
these  teachers  should  enjoy  undisputed  freedom. 
It  is  true  that  freedom  is  not  of  itself  a  solution 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  291 


of  the  task  which  lies  before  the  Church  ;  the 
importance  of  freedom  consists  in  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  only  instrument  which  will  enable  a 
solution  to  be  found.  Fetters  on  the  mind  are 
as  fatal  to  life  and  movement  as  fetters  on  the 
limbs,  and  the  occasional  aberrations  arising 
from  the  spirit  of  liberty  are  far  less  dangerous 
to  the  Christian  Church  than  the  immobility 
and  numbness  inevitably  produced  by  a  dog- 
matic despotism. 

The  doctrinal  standpoint  of  the  German 
Protestant  Union  was  set  forth  by  this 
society  in  a  leaflet  issued  to  the  public  in 
1905.  In  this  leaflet  the  society  asserts  that  it 
places  the  religious  and  moral  import  of  Christi- 
anity in  the  foreground.  "  It  is  not  the  accept- 
ance as  true  of  certain  dogmatic  propositions 
of  bygone  times  which  makes  a  man  a  Christian. 
He  only  is  a  Christian  who  puts  his  trust  in 
God  revealed  in  Christ  as  the  Heavenly  Father  : 
who  pronounces  the  Lord's  Prayer  with  an 
honest  heart :  who  follows  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
task  of  moral  regeneration  and  brotherly  love. 


292  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

Such  a  man  has  a  full  right  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Evangelic  Church,  even  if  he  doubts  or 
disapproves  of  the  dogmas  of  the  Church.  It 
is  not  dogmatic  opinions,  but  a  religious  moral 
character  which  makes  the  Christian."  The 
doctrinal  position  of  the  centre  party  in  the 
German  Church  (the  Evangelic  National 
Church  Union)  does  not  differ  in  essentials 
from  the  attitude  of  the  more  advanced  party  as 
represented  by  the  German  Protestant  Union. 
"  The  ground  of  our  salvation,"  says  the  pro- 
gramme of  the  Evangelic  National  Church 
Union,  "  is  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  The 
historical  source  and  standard  of  revelation  is 
Holy  Scripture.  .  .  .  We  separate  ourselves, 
on  the  one  hand,  from  those  who  regard  the 
evangelic  faith  as  bound  down  to  certain  given 
forms  and  formulas,  and  who  consider  the  con- 
fessions of  faith  as  being  of  the  same  character 
as  legal  documents.  With  us  attachment  to 
the  Evangelic  Church  consists  in  the  possession 
of  common  religious  ideals,  and  above  all  in  an 
inward  relation  of  the  soul  to  God  in  Christ. 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  293 


We  are  able  to  recognise  fellowship  in  the 
faith,  even  where  we  differ  both  in  form  and 
degree  with  regard  to  Christian  doctrine.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  separate  ourselves  from 
those  who,  overlooking  the  continuous  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Church,  regard  the 
formulas  of  the  past  as  a  burdensome  inheri- 
tance from  bygone  times.  We  look  upon 
ourselves  as  substantially  at  one  with  the  faith 
of  our  Church  as  it  found  expression  in  the 
formulas  of  the  Reformation.  But  we  no 
longer  look  upon  the  letter  of  these  formulas 
as  a  satisfactory  expression  of  the  spirit  by 
which  they  are  inspired." 

At  the  present  time  it  may  be  said  of  the 
German  Church  as  a  whole  that  the  dominant 
movement  within  it,  especially  at  the  univer- 
sities, is  a  movement  from  dogma  to  religion. 
This  great  movement  was  originated  by 
Schleiermacher  more  than  a  century  ago,  and 
all  parties  and  shades  of  opinion  in  the  German 
Church  have  been  drawn  into  it.  It  is  recog- 
nised that  dogmas  are  the  attempts  of  the 


294  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


Church  at  various  periods  of  its  history  to 
express  the  contents  of  the  religious  conscious- 
ness in  the  terminology  of  the  times  in  which 
they  were  framed.  It  is  felt  that  this 
terminology  is  more  or  less  of  a  temporary 
character.  The  religious  truth  which  it 
enshrines  is  not  dependent  upon  it,  and  is 
capable  of  being  expressed  in  other  forms. 
The  great  saving  truths  of  the  Christian  religion 
must  not  be  sacrificed  to  the  dogmatic  forms 
in  which  many  of  them  have  come  down  to  us. 
Dogma  exists  for  the  edification  of  the  Church  ; 
the  Church  does  not  exist  for  the  maintenance 
of  dogma.  When  dogmas  cease  to  edify ; 
when  they  cease  to  appeal  to  heart  and  con- 
science ;  when  they  cease  to  represent  the 
highest  Christian  consciousness ;  when  they 
become  unintelligible,  then  the  truths  which 
dogmas  contain  must  be  liberated  from  their 
traditional  envelope  and  re-expressed  in  a 
manner  which  will  once  more  enable  them  to 
touch  and  elevate  the  souls  of  men.  In  short, 
dogma  must  be  subordinated  to  religion ;  it 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  295 


must  follow  and  not  dominate  the  living  spirit 
of  the  Church. 

Note. — In  this  brief  paper  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  present  the  characteristics  of  modern 
German  theology  except  in  the  most  summary 
outline.  The  following  books  will  assist  the 
reader  who  wishes  to  make  a  study  of  the 
subject  :— 

Historical :  "  Protestantisches  Christentum 
und  Kirche  in  der  Neuzeit,"  von  Ernst  Tor- 
eltsch  :  an  elaborate  essay  in  a  volume  entitled 
Die  Christlichc  Religion,  Berlin,  Teubner,  1906; 
Die  Kirche  Deutchlands  im  neunzehnten 
Jahrhundert,  von  Reinhold  Seeberg,  Leipzig, 
Deichert,  1904 ;  Geschichte  und  Kritik  der 
neuern  Theologie,  von  F.  H.  R.  von  Frank, 
bearbeitet  und  bis  zur  gegenwart  fortgefuehrt 
von  R.  H.  Gruetzmacher,  Leipzig,  Deichert, 
1908.  For  a  brief  historical  sketch  see  Die 
Religioesen  Stroemungen  der  Gegenvoart,  von 
H.  Braasch,  Leipzig,  Teubner,  1904. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  principal  books 


296  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


on  Christian  doctrine  :— (1)  Books  of  the  older 
Liberal  school :  Christliche  Dogmatik,  von 
A.  E.  Biedermann,  Berlin,  Reimer,  1884; 
Lehrbuck  der  Kvangelisch-Protestantisch  Dog- 
matik, von  R.  A.  Lipsius,  Braunschweig 
Schwetschke,  1893  ;  Grundriss  der  Christ  lichen 
Glaubens  and  Sittenlehre,  von  O.  Pfleiderer, 
Berlin,  Reimer,  1898.  (2)  Books  of  the 
Ritschlian  or  "  modern "  school :  Die  Christ- 
liche Lehre  von  der  Rechtfertigung  und  Ver- 
soehnung,  von  A.  Ritschl,  Bonn,  A.  Marcus, 
1888;  JVliat  is  Christianity  ?  by  A.  Harnack, 
London,  Williams  &  Xorgate,  1904 ;  The 
Communion  of  the  Christian  with  God,  by 
W.  Hermann,  London,  Williams  &  Norgate, 
1906  ;  Dogmatik,  von  Julius  Kaftan,  Tuebin- 
gen,  Mohr,  1901  ;  Christliche  Glaubenslehre, 
von  Reischle,  Halle,  Niemeyr,  1904 ;  Die 
Christliche  Glaube,  von  Th.  Haering,  Stutt- 
gart, 1906 ;  System  der  Christlichen  Lehre, 
von  H.  H.  Wendt,  Goettingen,  Vanden- 
hoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1906.  (3)  The  history 
of  religions  movement:  Die  Absolutheit  des 


GERMAN  EVANGELIC  LIBERALISM  297 

Christentums  in  der  Religionsgeschiclite,  E. 
Troeltsch,  Tuebingen,  Mohr,  1902. 

The  above  list  makes  no  pretension  to  be 
complete  ;  but  it  embraces  the  most  represen- 
tative books. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM 

BY 

The  Rev.  A.  L.  LILLEY 

If  by  Liberal  theology  we  mean  the  attempt 
to  justify  the  Christian  faith  to  the  intelligence 
of  to-day,  then  nowhere  has  it  found  more 
sincere  and  adequate  expression  than  in  the 
Roman  communion.  It  is  certain  Roman 
theologians  who  have  recognised  most  clearly 
the  conditions  of  the  contemporary  apologetic 
problem.  Those  conditions  are  of  two  kinds  ; 
on  the  one  hand  the  present-day  conception  of 
what  knowledge  is  and  how  it  is  acquired,  on 
the  other  the  form  of  that  traditional  apolo- 
getic which  has  to  be  replaced.  The  first 
condition  is  the  same  for  all  the  Christian 
communions,  the  second  varies  for  each  of 
them. 

298 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  299 

It  is  exactly  because  the  latter  condition 
presents  greater  difficulties  in  the  Roman 
Church  than  elsewhere  that  there  the  problem 
has  been  faced  with  perfect  honesty  and 
courage.  It  is  only  when  life  itself  is  at  stake 
that  the  full  powers  of  life  are  evoked.  Self- 
preservation,  a  mere  latent  instinct  in  times  of 
peace  and  safety,  becomes  a  fully-developed 
capacity  when  destruction  is  imminent.  That 
has  been  the  case  in  Rome  since  1870.  In 
promulgating  the  Vatican  decrees,  Roman 
authority  implicitly  recognised  that  its  spiritual 
Twentieth  of  September  had  arrived.  Just 
as  the  prisoner  of  the  local  and  political 
Vatican  condemned  and  defied  the  whole 
world  of  modern  politics  and  government,  so 
it  was  a  prisoner  of  the  spiritual  and  scholastic 
Vatican  who  defied  and  condemned  the  whole 
world  of  modern  thought.  The  syllabus  of 
1864  was  something  of  a  prophecy,  for  the 
doom  which  its  condemnation  of  all  that  was 
politically  alive  and  real  entailed  upon  him 
who  condemned  it  was  not  accomplished  till 


300  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


1 87 0.  So  also  the  Vatican  decrees  were  some- 
thing of  a  prophecy,  for  their  condemnation  of 
all  that  is  living  and  real  in  thought  took  com- 
plete effect  only  when  Leo  XIII.  forced  the 
Church  to  become  the  prisoner  of  scholasticism 
by  issuing  the  Encyclical  jEterni  Patris. 

It  is  impossible,  then,  to  appreciate  the  full 
import  of  the  modern  Liberal  movement  in 
Roman  theology  without  taking  account  of 
the  necessity  which  called  it  into  being 
and  of  the  full  extent  of  that  necessity. 
In  the  Roman  Church  after  1870,  and 
especially  after  the  Encyclical  of  1879,  no 
apologetic  was  any  longer  possible,  seeing  that 
no  common  ground  was  left  on  which  faith 
and  reason  could  meet  and  conduct  their 
eternal  debate.  Faith  had  excommunicated 
contemporary  thought.  It  imposed  itself 
henceforward  by  a  single  inclusive  act  of 
authority.  Only  a  theological  revolution  could 
save  religion  for  that  section  of  the  world 
which  needs  to  think  its  religion  in  order  to 
live  it,  and  needs  especially  to  think  it  because 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  301 


it  is  living  it  and  would  live  it  more  fully. 
The  theological  revolution,  therefore,  was  forth- 
with declared  in  the  Roman  communion. 

Now  Roman  theology,  thus  liberated,  was 
forced  to  recognise  the  universal  conditions 
of  a  fruitful  apologetic  in  our  time.  And 
because  of  the  hardness  of  the  necessity  which 
constrained  it,  it  recognised  them  more  fully 
than  they  had  been  recognised  elsewhere. 
Outside  the  Roman  pale,  apologetic  was  still 
alive.  Mere  authority  was  not  sufficient  as 
a  guarantee  of  faith.  Theologians  still  traf- 
ficked in  the  interests  of  religion  with  the 
thought  of  their  time,  and  naturally  drove  the 
hardest  bargain  they  could.  The  apologetic 
of  the  past  was  being  gradually  modified  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  present.  As  always 
happens  in  such  cases,  the  result  was  a  series 
of  partial  and  largely  unreal  compromises. 
But  the  Roman  apologist  had  the  advantage 
of  making  a  fresh  beginning.  The  apologetic 
officially  recognised  and  even  enforced  in  his 
own  communion  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 


302 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


It  had  no  relation  whatever  with  current  habits 
of  thought.  He  had  no  alternative  but  to 
set  it  aside  in  its  entirety  and  devise  a  new 
one.  He  may  not,  indeed,  have  realised  at 
once  the  full  measure  of  the  task  he  had 
undertaken,  but  it  was  not  long  before  he 
was  compelled  to  do  so. 

What,  then,  the  Roman  theologian  found, 
on  girding  himself  to  his  task,  was  that  he 
was  in  presence  of  a  long  religious  tradition 
which  he  had  inherited.  This  tradition  had 
become  identified  at  every  point  with  the 
intellectual  expression  and  justification  of  it 
which  had  sufficed  in  a  distant  past,  but  was 
no  longer  valid.  The  problem,  therefore,  was 
to  preserve  the  tradition  intact  while  replac- 
ing the  intellectual  forms  under  which  it  was 
apprehended.  In  doing  this  he  was  driven 
to  consider  more  closely  in  what  the  permanent 
tradition  consisted.  He  soon  discovered  that 
this  tradition  was  a  series  of  faith-affirmations 
concerning  the  character  of  the  Power  that 
was  working  in   and  through  phenomena. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  303 


History  witnessed  to  the  fact  that  this  tradition 
was  as  old  as  the  race,  that  man  was  a  religious 
being,  that  the  Christian  Church  could  trace 
its  direct  spiritual  descent  from  the  feeble 
beginnings  of  faith  in  Israel,  and  through  Israel 
its  collateral  descent  from  many  Oriental  forms 
of  faith  no  longer  extant  save  in  their  trans- 
formed life  among  ourselves.  He  concluded, 
therefore,  that  human  history, rightly  conceived, 
was  a  religious  history,  the  story  of  the  "  gesta 
Dei  per  homines,"  and  that  no  Christian 
apologetic  which  overlooked  this  continuity 
of  religious  growth  could  successfully  appeal 
to  our  age  with  its  conception  of  history  as  a 
continuous,  but  vital,  development.  The  non- 
religious  historian  might  indeed  account  for 
the  undoubted  fact  of  historical  development 
by  alleging  that  it  was  the  mere  continuity 
of  a  mechanical  process.  But  the  religious 
historian  could  not  do  less  than  claim  that  the 
whole  process  was  free  and  vital,  that  it  was 
all  the  work  of  God  through  human  wills 
which  were  free  only  because  and  only  in  so 


304  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

far  as  they  were  expressing,  however  feebly 
and  imperfectly,  some  aspect  of  the  Divine 
Will.  And  when  the  religious  historian  made 
this  claim,  when  he  no  longer  conceived  of 
God  as  merely  intruding  into  history  here  and 
there  in  miraculous  ways,  when  he  ceased  to 
shut  out  God  from  the  general  movement  of 
history,  then  the  non-religious  historian  would 
cease  to  be.  For  it  was  exactly  this  denial  that 
had  created  that  disturbing  human  portent. 

But,  again,  this  revelation  of  God  in  history 
was  a  revelation  through  men,  through  the 
powers  with  which  God  had  constituted  men. 
It  was  men  who  recognised  Him,  even  though 
they  recognised  Him  in  virtue  of  His  own 
immediate  inspiration.  And,  therefore,  all  re- 
ligion had  its  phenomenal  side.  Faith  seized 
its  divine  object,  but  it  seized  it  through  the 
medium  of  human  powers,  powers  which  can 
only  live  through  growth,  and  which  find  their 
expression  in  changing  forms  of  thought  and 
action  and  order.  No  achievement,  whether 
in  the  realm  of  truth,  of  right,  or  of  govern- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  305 


ment,  is  final.  It  is  not  final  just  because 
humanity  is  still  growing.  The  absolute  truth 
or  right  or  order  would  have  no  meaning  to  us 
till  we  had  ourselves  grown  into  the  absolute, 
and  therefore  ceased  to  be  the  creatures  of 
time  and  change  which  we  are.  We  are, 
indeed,  in  order  that  we  may  grow  at  all, 
rooted  in  the  Absolute  of  truth  and  right  which 
is  God.  We  apprehend  it  immediately  by 
faith  as  perfect  Spirit  working  in  our  imperfect 
spirits.  But  there  is  here  question  only  of 
that  particular  apprehension  which  mediates 
itself  through  thought  and  law  and  institutions 
and  practical  ideals  of  right.  And  such  appre- 
hension is  relative  to  the  stage  of  growth  which 
we  have  reached.  Every  external  expression 
of  religion  therefore  has  its  history.  It  belongs 
to  the  natural  order,  and  is  determined  by  the 
conditions  which  prevail  in  the  natural  order. 
Worship,  dogma,  Church  organisation  are 
natural  expressions  of  the  supernatural  and 
Divine  activity  in  the  hearts  of  men  which  we 

realise  for  ourselves  as  faith,  and  have  their 

20 


306 


ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


value  only  in  so  far  as  they  are  instrumental 
to  faith.  Where  faith  is  alive,  it  will  determine 
its  own  expressions,  it  will  create  the  corre- 
spondence it  needs  between  itself  and  the 
world  of  thought,  of  moral  ideals,  and  of 
government. 

But  let  us  look  a  little  more  closely  at  the 
work  of  analysis  which  the  Roman  Liberals 
have  accomplished  on  the  unsifted  material  of 
religious  tradition.  Let  us  take  that  particular 
expression  of  Christian  faith  which  is  called 
dogma.  Dogma  is  the  attempt  of  Christian 
faith  to  think  itself  accurately,  to  convert  itself 
into  terms  of  ordered  thought,  to  place  itself 
in  some  kind  of  living  relation  with  the  whole 
body  of  our  knowledge.  Now  it  is  necessary 
that  such  an  attempt  should  reflect  the  thought- 
forms,  the  conception  and  the  substance  of 
knowledge,  of  the  time  at  which  it  was  made, 
or  rather,  as  dogma  is  usually  a  retarded 
crystallisation  of  thought,  of  the  time  when 
the  conflict  of  opinion  out  of  which  it  has 
issued  was  hottest.    Xothing.  therefore,  can 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  307 


be  more  transient  than  the  thought-value  of 
dogma.  As  a  rule,  its  thought- value  has  been 
discounted,  for  the  reasons  just  stated,  even 
before  it  becomes  dogma.  History  alone  can 
show  us,  but  it  can  always  show  us,  how  the 
one  persistent  faith  in  God,  sometimes  through 
the  enlargement  and  intensification  of  its 
own  vision,  sometimes  by  reason  of  the  new 
problems  it  has  to  face,  has  adapted  and  utilised 
ever  new  thought-forms  for  its  expression,  in 
order  that  it  might  remain  the  same  essential 
faith  through  the  different  stages  of  its  growth. 
When,  therefore,  we  use  any  dogmatic  state- 
ment to  express  our  faith,  we  do  not  profess  a 
belief  either  in  the  validity  or  in  the  adequacy 
of  its  thought-form.  That  may  mean  to  us 
practically  nothing,  or  it  may  be  merely  in- 
adequate. In  any  case,  we  are  expressing 
our  faith  in  a  particular  manifestation  of  the 
Divine  character  or  activity  which  was  origin- 
ally expressed  through  this  form. 

And  here  there  arises  one  of  those  considera- 
tions on  which  many  of  the  Roman  Liberals 


308  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

have  most  strongly  insisted,  and  which  has 
more  than  any  other  given  rise  to  a  misunder- 
standing of  their  position.  They  have  pointed 
out  that  no  phenomenal  fact  can  be  the  object 
of  religious  faith,  that  God  alone  is  the  object 
of  faith,  that  facts  are  no  more  and  cannot 
ever  be  more  than  the  occasions  of  that  faith. 
When  we  repeat  the  creeds  we  do  not  express 
our  belief  in  facts,  but  our  faith  in  certain 
aspects  of  the  Divine  character  and  activity 
occasioned  by  certain  facts.  The  life  and 
death  of  Jesus,  for  instance,  were  facts  of 
history,  yet  they  did  not  compel  faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  or  faith  in  the 
atoning  efficacy  of  His  death.  They  were 
merely  the  occasions  of  the  spontaneous  faith 
of  the  disciples  in  those  Divine  realities  to 
which  alone  the  creed  desires  to  witness. 
But,  it  is  replied,  if  the  facts  were  the  original 
occasion  of  the  peculiarly  Christian  faith,  then 
that  faith  still  implies  a  belief  in  the  historical 
reality  of  the  facts.  The  Roman  Liberal  does 
not  dissent  from  such  an  obvious  proposition. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  309 


But  he  asks  us  to  distinguish  between  those 
facts  which  in  the  creeds  are  connected  with 
faith  as  its  original  occasions.  Some  of  them 
are  facts  of  history  in  the  strictest  sense. 
Their  reality  as  historical  happenings  was 
manifest  to  immense  multitudes  of  the  con- 
temporaries of  Jesus  in  Galilee  and  Jerusalem, 
and  that  quite  independently  of  the  faith- 
import  which  a  few  of  those  contemporaries 
found  in  them.  But  there  are  other  facts 
such  as  the  Descent  into  Hell,  the  Resurrec- 
tion, the  Ascension,  and  the  Heavenly  Session, 
whose  reality  lies  altogether  outside  the  pur- 
view of  history.  It  cannot,  indeed,  be  denied 
that  there  were  certain  fact-occasions  of  at 
least  some  of  these  truths  of  faith,  though 
it  is  next  to  impossible  for  criticism  to  define 
their  exact  measure.  But,  whatever  that 
measure  may  have  been,  faith  outstripped  it 
and  represented  as  happening  in  the  pheno- 
menal sphere  what  happened  actually  in  the 
spiritual  sphere.  Such  facts  of  the  creed 
were  really  spiritual  facts,  spiritually  discerned 


310  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 

but  phenomenally  conceived  and  represented. 
For  us  the  phenomenal  representation  may 
prove  invalid  while  the  certainty  of  the  spiritual 
fact  remains.  It  is  clear,  for  instance,  that 
unless  we  are  still  to  believe  that  Heaven  is 
above  the  clouds,  and  Hell  in  the  centre  of 
the  earth,  we  cannot  understand  the  Ascension 
of  our  Lord  and  His  descent  into  Hell  as  the 
early  Christians  understood  it,  and  as  indeed 
all  Christians  did  at  least  down  to  the  time  of 
Galileo.  Yet  we  feel  no  difficulty  about  using 
the  forms  of  representation  which  were  so  long 
current  in  the  Christian  Church  to  express  a 
faith  which  is  as  really  ours  as  it  was  theirs. 
Again,  our  Lord's  Resurrection  is  not  a  datum 
of  history.1  The  historical  data  are  the  appear- 
ances to  the  disciples  and  the  empty  tomb. 
But.  as  one  of  the  Roman  Liberals  has  pointed 
out,  the  historian  will  not  conclude  from  these 
facts  to  the  resuscitation  of  our  Lord's  body. 

1  So  far,  at  least,  as  the  Canonical  Gospels  are  concerned. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  "  Gospel  of  Peter  :'  the  Resurrection 
itself  becomes  a  datum  of  history. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  LIBERALISM  311 


He  is  forced  by  his  own  methods  to  exhaust 
all  the  many  probable  hypotheses  to  account 
for  these  facts  before  he  accepts  what  will  seem 
to  him,  as  a  historian,  the  most  improbable. 
The  Resurrection  is  for  us  as  much  an  asser- 
tion of  faith  as  it  was  for  the  disciples  who 
believed  that  the  Messiah  of  God  could  not  be 
holden  of  death,  as  it  was  for  St  Paul  who 
believed  in  it  with  the  same  invincible  cer- 
tainty with  which  he  believed  in  the  general 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  Nor  do  we  feel 
any  difficulty  about  expressing  our  faith 
in  it  through  a  representation  of  its  method 
which  was  the  natural  and  inevitable  medium 
of  expression  of  that  same  faith  for  the  first 
disciples. 

It  is  on  these  lines  that  Liberal  Roman 
theology  has  attempted  to  outline  an  apologetic 
which  will  be  sufficient  to  justify  the  Christian 
faith,  in  so  far  as  it  is  really  a  faith  and  not  an 
amalgam  of  faith  and  dead  science,  to  contem- 
porary thought.  Its  merit  is  that  it  not  only 
does  not  distrust  the  learning  of  our  day  with 


312  ANGLICAN  LIBERALISM 


its  new  methods,  but  that  it  welcomes  it  ana 
all  the  truth  that  it  reveals  as,  on  their  own 
level,  an  immediate  revelation  of  God.  The 
certainties  of  faith  are  on  a  higher  level,  but 
they  are  not  therefore  and  cannot  be  in  conflict 
with  the  certainties  of  our  other  knowledge. 
On  the  contrary,  the  witness  of  the  two  planes 
of  knowledge  is  consentient  and  complementary. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  whether  Roman  Liberal- 
ism will  succeed  in  transforming  Rome.  It 
cannot,  of  course,  do  so  without  in  the  process 
destroying  the  intellectual  despotism  which 
has  done  its  best  to  paralyse  that  Church,  and 
which  must,  if  unchecked,  succeed  in  paralysing 
it  altogether.  But  whether  the  Liberal  leaven 
succeeds  in  permeating  the  Roman  lump  or 
not,  it  is  chiefly  through  the  sincere  and  un- 
diluted quality  which  certain  Roman  theo- 
logians have  imparted  to  that  leaven — so,  at 
least,  it  seems  to  the  present  writer — that  it 
will  work  throughout  Christendom  to  form 
the  Church  of  the  future. 

MUNTED  BY  WEILL  AND  OO.,  LTD.,  EDINBURGH. 


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